.  a , 


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Charles  EcLwarcf  Hugh 
1867-1938 


1 


Professor  of  Education 
University  of  California 


SPECIAL  METHOD  IN  READING 
IN  THE  GRADES 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
ATLANTA  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


SPECIAL  METHOD  IN  READING 
IN  THE  GRADES 


INCLUDING 

THE  ORAL   TREATMENT  OF   STORIES 

AND  THE  READING  OF  CLASSICS 


BY 


CHARLES   A.    McMURRY,  Ph.D. 

OF   STATE   NORMAL   SCHOOL 
DE  KALB,   ILLINOIS 


Nefo  ffotft 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1908 

Ail  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  19035"  1908, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    New  edition,  November,  1908. 


Norhjootj  tresis 

J.  S.  Cushing  Co.  —Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  a  combination  of  two  earlier  volumes, 
namely,  "The  Special  Method  in  Primary  Reading 
and  Oral  Work  with  Stories,,  and  "The  Special 
Method  in  the  Reading  of  English  Classics.,, 

Several  of  the  chapters  have  been  shortened,  while 
the  chapter  of  Illustrative  Lessons  in  the  latter  part 
has  been  enlarged. 

The  purpose  has  been  to  discuss,  in  a  practical  and 
comprehensive  way,  the  problem  of  introducing  chil- 
dren to  our  best  reading  material  and  to  the  art  of 
reading. 

The  entire  course  of  study  for  reading  in  the  eight 
grades  is  included  in  this  plan. 


t*J«} 


IVKoY* 


N 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

The  Reason  for  Oral  Work  in  Stories  i 

CHAPTER  II 
The  Basis  of  Skill  in  Oral  Work    .        .        •        .16 

CHAPTER  III 
First  Grade  Stories 47 

CHAPTER  IV 
Second  Grade  Stories 75 

CHAPTER  V 
Third  Grade  Stories 98 

CHAPTER  VI 
Method  in  Primary  Reading 112 

CHAPTER  VII 
Exercises  and  Lessons  . 129 

CHAPTER  VIII 

List  of  Books  for  Primary  Grades    .        .        .        .143 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   IX 

FAGE 

Educational  Value  of  Literature    .        .       .       .152 

CHAPTER  X 
The  Use  of  Masterpieces  as  Wholes        .        .        .184 

CHAPTER  XI 
Literary  Materials  for  the  Five  Upper  Grades    .    210 

CHAPTER  XII 
Class-room  Method  in  Reading 245 

CHAPTER  XIII 
Illustrative  Lessons  in  Reading        ....    282 

CHAPTER  XIV 
The  Value  of  Classics  to  a  Teacher       .        .        .    302 

CHAPTER  XV 
List  of  Books 331 


SPECIAL  METHOD  IN  READING 
IN  THE  GRADES 


>N   FOR    ORAL    WORK   IN    STORIES  3 

'  elders.     They  will  take  what  we 

"t  at  its  full  worth  or  worthless- 

e  things  as  the  tender  plant 

COMBINED    SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING, 

INCLUDING  THE  ORAL   TREATMENT 

OF  STORIES 

CHAPTER   I 
The  Reason  for  Oral  Work  in  Stories 

The  telling  and  reading  of  stories  to  children  in 
early  years,  before  they  have  mastered  the  art  of 
reading,  is  of  such  importance  as  to  awaken  the 
serious  thought  of  parents  and  teachers.  To  older 
people  it  is  a  source  of  constant  surprise  —  the  at- 
tentive interest  which  children  bestow  upon  stories. 
Almost  any  kind  of  a  story  will  command  their  wide- 
awake thought.  But  the  tale  which  they  can  fully 
understand  and  enjoy  has  a  unique  power  to  concen- 
trate their  mental  energy.  There  is  an  undivided, 
unalloyed  absorption  of  mind  in  good  stories  which 
augurs  well  for  all  phases  of  later  effort.  To  get 
children  into  this  habit  of  undivided  mental  energy, 
of  singleness  of  purpose  in  study,  is  most  promising. 
In  primary  grades,  the  fluttering,  scatter-brained  tru- 
ancy of  thought  is  the  chronic  obstacle  to  success  in 
study. 

The  telling  or  reading  of  stories  to  children  natu- 


>ING 

.  little  ones  are  old 
*r  and  father,  the  aunts 
...  *»j  uiit,  c*ny  older  person  who  delights  in 
children,  find  true  comfort  and  entertainment  in  re- 
hearsing the  famous  stories  to  children.  The  Mother 
Goose,  the  fables,  the  fairy  tales,  the  "Arabian 
Nights,"  Eugene  Field's  and  Stevenson's  poems  of 
child  life,  the  Bible  stories,  the  myths,  and  some  of 
the  old  ballads  have  untold  treasures  for  children.  If 
one  has  a  voice  for  singing  the  old  melodies,  the 
charm  of  music  intensifies  the  effect.  Little  ones 
quickly  memorize  what  delights  them,  and  not  sel- 
dom, after  two  or  three  readings,  children  of  three 
and  four  years  will  be  heard  repeating  whole  poems 
or  large  parts  of  them.  The  repetition  of  the  songs 
and  stories  till  they  become  thoroughly  familiar  gives 
them  their  full  educative  effect.  They  become  a 
part  of  the  permanent  furniture  of  the  mind.  If  the 
things  which  the  children  learn  in  early  years  have 
been  well  selected  from  the  real  treasures  of  the  past 
(of  which  there  is  a  goodly  store),  the  seeds  of  true 
culture  have  been  deeply  sown  in  their  affections. 

The  opportunities  of  the  home  for  good  story- 
telling are  almost  boundless.  Parents  who  perceive 
its  worth  and  are  willing  to  take  time  for  it,  find  in 
this  early  period  greater  opportunity  to  mould  the 
lives  of  children  and  put  them  into  sympathetic  touch 
with  things  of  beauty  and  value  than  at  any  other 
time.     At  this  age  children  are  well-nigh  wholly  at 


THE   REASON   FOR   ORAL   WORK   IN    STORIES  3 

the  mercy  of  their  elders.  They  will  take  what  we 
give  them  and  take  it  at  its  full  worth  or  worthless- 
ness.  They  absorb  these  things  as  the  tender  plant 
absorbs  rain  and  sunshine. 

The  kindergarten  has  naturally  found  in  the  story 
one  of  its  chief  means  of  effectiveness.  Stories, 
songs,  and  occupations  are  its  staples.  Dealing  with 
this  same  period  of  early  childhood,  before  the  more 
taxing  work  of  the  school  begins,  it  finds  that  the 
children's  minds  move  with  that  same  freedom  and 
spontaneity  in  these  stories  with  which  their  bodies 
and  physical  energies  disport  themselves  in  games 
and  occupations. 

It  is  fortunate  for  childhood  that  we  have  such 
wholesome  and  healthful  material,  which  is  fitted 
to  give  a  child's  mental  action  a  well-rounded  com- 
pleteness. His  will,  his  sensibility,  and  his  knowing 
faculty,  all  in  one  harmonious  whole,  are  brought 
into  full  action.  In  short,  not  a  fragment  but  the 
whole  child  is  focus  sed  and  concentrated  upon  one 
absorbing  object  of  thought 

The  value  of  the  oral  treatment  of  stories  is  found 
in  the  greater  clearness  and  interest  with  which  they 
can  be  presented  orally.  There  is  a  keener  realism, 
a  closer  approximation  to  experimental  facts,  to  the 
situations,  the  hardships,  to  the  sorrows  and  triumphs 
of  persons.  The  feelings  and  impulses  of  the  actors 
in  the  story  are  felt  more  sharply.  The  reality  of  the 
surrounding  conditions  and  difficulties  is  presented  so 


4  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

that  a  child  transports  himself  by  the  power  of  sym- 
pathy and  imagination  into  the  scenes  described. 

There  is  no  way  by  which  this  result  can  be  accom- 
plished in  early  years  except  by  the  oral  presentation 
of  stories.  Until  the  children  have  learned  to  read 
and  have  acquired  sufficient  mastery  of  the  art  of 
reading  so  that  it  is  easy  and  fluent,  there  is  no  way 
by  which  they  can  get  at  good  stories  for  themselves. 
Average  children  require  about  three  years  to  acquire 
this  mastery  of  the  reading  art.  Not  many  children 
read  stories  from  books,  with  enjoyment  and  appre- 
ciation, till  they  are  nine  or  ten  years  old ;  but  from 
the  age  of  four  to  ten  they  are  capable  of  receiving 
an  infinite  amount  of  instruction  and  mental  stimulus 
from  hearing  good  stories.  In  fact,  many  of  the  best 
stories  ever  produced  in  the  history  of  the  world  can 
be  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  children  before  they  have 
learned  to  read.  This  is  true  of  Grimm's  and  Ander- 
sen's stories,  of  the  myths  of  Hiawatha  and  Norse- 
land,  and  of  the  early  Greeks,  of  the  Bible  stories, 
the  "Arabian  Nights/'  "Robin  Hood,"  besides  many 
other  stories,  poems,  ballads,  and  biographies  which 
are  among  the  best  things  in  our  literature. 

In  these  early  years  the  minds  of  children  may  be 
enriched  with  a  f  urnishment  of  ideas  of  much  value 
for  all  their  future  use,  a  sort  of  capital  well  invested, 
which  will  bring  rich  returns.  Minds  early  fertilized 
with  this  variety  of  thought  material  become  more 
flexible,  productive,  and  acquisitive. 


THE    REASON    FOR   ORAL    WORK    IN   STORIES  5 

For  many  years,  and  even  centuries,  it  was  sup- 
posed that  early  education  could  furnish  children  with 
little  except  the  forms  and  instruments  of  knowledge, 
the  tools  of  acquisition,  such  as  ability  to  read,  spell, 
and  write,  and  to  use  simple  numbers.  But  the  sus- 
ceptibility of  younger  children  to  the  powerful  cul- 
ture influence  of  story,  poem,  and  nature  study,  was 
overlooked. 

We  now  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  there 
is  no  period  when  the  educative  and  refining  influ- 
ences of  good  literature  in  the  form  of  poems  and 
story  can  be  made  so  effective  as  in  this  early  period 
from  four  to  ten  years.  That  period  which  has  been 
long  almost  wholly  devoted  to  the  dry  formalities  and 
mechanics  of  knowledge,  to  the  dull  and  oftentimes 
benumbing  drills  of  alphabets,  spelling,  and  arithmeti- 
cal tables,  is  found  to  be  capable  of  a  fruitful  study 
of  stories,  fables,  and  myths,  and  an  indefinite  exten- 
sion of  ideas  and  experiences  in  nature  observation. 

But  the  approach  to  these  sunny  fields  of  varied 
and  vivid  experience  is  not  through  books,  except 
as  the  teacher's  mind  has  assimilated  their  materials 
and  prepared  them  for  lively  presentation. 

The  oral  speech  through  which  the  stories  are 
given  to  children  is  completely  familiar  to  them,  so 
that  they,  unencumbered  by  the  forms  of  language, 
can  give  their  undivided  thought  to  the  story.  Oral 
speech  is,  therefore,  the  natural  channel  through 
which  stories  should  come  in  early  years.     The  book 


6  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

is  at  first  wholly  foreign  to  them,  and  it  takes  them 
three  years  or  more  of  greater  or  less  painful  effort 
to  get  such  easy  mastery  of  printed  forms  as  to  gain 
ready  access  to  thought  in  books.  A  book,  when 
first  put  into  the  hands  of  a  child,  is  a  complete 
obstruction  to  thought.  The  oral  story,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  a  perfectly  transparent  medium  of  thought. 
A  child  can  see  the  meaning  of  a  story  through  oral 
speech  as  one  sees  a  landscape  through  a  clear  win- 
dow-pane. If  a  child,  therefore,  up  to  the  age  of 
ten,  is  to  get  many  and  delightsome  views  into  the 
fruitful  fields  of  story-land,  this  miniature  world  of 
all  realities,  this  repository  of  race  ideas,  it  must 
be  through  oral  speech  which  he  has  already  acquired 
in  the  years  of  babyhood. 

It  is  an  interesting  blunder  of  teachers,  and  one 
that  shows  their  unreflecting  acceptance  of  tradi- 
tional customs,  to  assume  that  the  all-absorbing  prob- 
lem of  primary  instruction  is  the  acquisition  of  a  new 
book  language  (the  learning  to  read),  and  to  ignore 
that  rich  mother  tongue,  already  abundantly  famil- 
iar, as  an  avenue  of  acquisition  and  culture.  But  we 
are  now  well  convinced  that  the  ability  to  read  is  an 
instrument  of  culture,  not  culture  itself,  and  prima- 
rily the  great  object  of  education  is  to  inoculate 
the  children  with  the  ideas  of  our  civilization.  The 
forms  of  expression  are  also  of  great  value,  but  they 
are  secondary  and  incidental  as  compared  with  the 
world  of  ideas. 


THE   REASON    FOR   ORAL    WORK   IN    STORIES  7 

There  is  an  intimate  connection  between  learning 
to  read  and  the  oral  treatment  of  stories  in  primary 
schools  which  is  very  interesting  and  suggestive  to 
the  teacher.  Routine  teachers  may  think  it  a  waste 
of  time  to  stop  for  the  oral  presentation  of  stories. 
But  the  more  thoughtful  and  sympathetic  teacher 
will  think  it  better  to  stimulate  the  child's  mind  than 
to  cram  his  memory.  The  young  mind  fertilized  by 
ideas  is  quicker  to  learn  the  printed  forms  than  a 
mind  barren  of  thought.  Yet  this  proposition  needs 
to  be  seen  and  illustrated  in  many  forms. 

Children  should  doubtless  make  much  progress  in 
learning  to  read  in  the  first  year  of  school.  But 
coincident  with  these  exercises  in  primary  reading, 
and,  as  a  general  thing,  preliminary  to  them,  is  a 
lively  and  interested  acquaintance  with  the  best 
stories.  It  is  a  fine  piece  of  educative  work  to  cul- 
tivate in  children,  at  the  beginning  of  school  life,  a 
real  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  a  few  good  stories. 
These  stories,  thus  rendered  familiar,  and  others  of 
similar  tone  and  quality,  may  serve  well  as  a  part  of 
the  reading  lessons.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  cultivate 
this  literary  taste  in  the  reading  books  alone,  un- 
relieved by  oral  work.  The  primers  and  first  readers, 
when  examined,  will  give  ample  proof  of  this  state- 
ment. In  spite  of  the  utmost  effort  of  skilled 
primary  teachers  to  make  attractive  books  for  pri- 
mary children,  our  primers  and  first  readers  show 
unmistakable  signs  of  their  formal  and  mechanical 
character.     They  are  essentially  drill  books. 


8  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

It  seems  well,  therefore,  to  have  in  primary 
schools  two  kinds  of  work  in  connection  with  story 
and  reading,  the  oral  work  in  story-telling,  reproduc- 
tion, expression,  etc.,  and  the  drill  exercises  in  learn- 
ing to  read.  The  former  will  keep  up  a  wide-awake 
interest  in  the  best  thought  materials  suitable  for 
children,  the  latter  will  gradually  acquaint  them  with 
the  necessary  forms  of  written  and  printed  language. 
Moreover,  the  interest  aroused  in  the  stories  is  con- 
stantly transferring  itself  to  the  reading  lessons  and 
giving  greater  spirit  and  vitality  even  to  the  primary 
efforts  at  learning  to  read.  In  discussing  the  method 
of  primary  reading  we  shall  have  occasion  to  men- 
tion the  varied  devices  of  games,  activities,  drawings, 
dramatic  action,  blackboard  exercises,  and  picture 
work,  by  which  an  alert  primary  teacher  puts  life 
and  motive  into  early  reading  work,  but  fully  as 
important  as  all  these  things  put  together  is  the 
growing  insight  and  appreciation  for  good  stories. 
When  a  child  makes  the  discovery,  as  Hugh  Miller 
said,  "that  learning  to  read  is  learning  to  get  stories 
out  of  books  "  he  has  struck  the  chord  that  should 
vibrate  through  all  his  future  life.  The  real  motive 
for  reading  is  to  get  something  worth  the  effort  of 
reading.  Even  if  it  takes  longer  to  accomplish  the 
result  in  this  way,  the  result  when  accomplished  is 
in  all  respects  more  valuable.  But  it  is  probable  that 
children  will  learn  to  read  fully  as  soon  who  spend 
a  good  share  of  their  time  in  oral  story  work. 


THE   REASON    FOR   ORAL    WORK   IN   STORIES  9 

In  discussing  the  literary  materials  used  in  the  first 
four  grades,  we  suggest  the  following  grading  of 
certain  large  groups  of  literary  matter,  and  the  rela- 
tion of  oral  work  to  the  reading  in  each  subsequent 
grade  is  clearly  marked. 

Oral  Work.  Reading. 

j st  Grade.    Games,  Mother  Goose.  Lessons  based  on  Games,  etc. 

Fables,  Fairy  Tales.  Board  Exercises. 

Nature  Myths,  Child  Poems.      Primers,  First  Readers. 

Simple  Myths,  Stories,  etc. 

2d  Grade,    Robinson  Crusoe.  Fables,  Fairy  Tales. 

Hiawatha.  Myths  and  Poems. 

Seven  Little  Sisters.  Second  Readers. 

Hiawatha  Primer. 

3d  Grade.    Greek  and  Norse  Myths.  Robinson  Crusoe. 

Ballads  and  Legendary  Stories.   Andersen's  &  Grimm's  Tales. 
Ulysses,  Jason,  Siegfried.  Child's  Garden  of  Verses. 

Old  Testament  Stories.  Third  Readers. 

4th  Grade.  American    Pioneer    History  Greek  and  Norse  Myths. 

Stories.  Historical  Ballads. 

Early  Biographical  Stories  of  Ulysses,  Arabian  Nights. 

Europe,  as  Alfred,  Solon,  Hiawatha,  Wonder  Book. 
Arminius,  etc. 

This  close  dependence  of  reading  proper,  in  earlier 
years,  upon  the  oral  treatment  of  stories  as  a  pre- 
liminary, is  based  fundamentally  upon  the  idea  that 
suitable  and  interesting  thought  matter  is  the  true 
basis  of  progress  in  reading,  and  that  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  taste  for  good  books  is  a  much  greater 
thing  than  the  mere  acquisition  of  the  art  of  reading. 
The  motive  with  which  children  read  or  try  to  learn 
to  read  is,  after  all,  of  the  greatest  consequence. 


IO  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

The  old  notion  that  children  must  first  learn  to 
read  and  then  find,  through  the  mastery  of  this  art, 
the  entrance  to  literature  is  exactly  reversed.  First 
awaken  a  desire  for  things  worth  reading,  and  then 
incorporate  these  and  similar  stories  into  the  regular 
reading  exercises  as  far  as  possible. 

In  accordance  with  this  plan,  children,  by  the  time 
they  are  nine  or  ten  years  old,  will  become  heartily 
acquainted  with  three  or  four  of  the  great  classes 
of  literature,  the  fables,  fairy  tales,  myths,  and  such 
world  stories  as  Crusoe,  Aladdin,  Hiawatha,  and 
Ulysses.  Moreover,  the  oral  treatment  will  bring 
these  persons  and  actions  closer  to  their  thought  and 
experience  than  the  later  reading  alone  could  do. 
In  fact,  if  children  have  reached  their  tenth  year 
without  enjoying  those  great  forms  of  literature  that 
are  appropriate  to  childhood,  there  is  small  prospect 
that  they  will  ever  acquire  a  taste  for  them.  They 
have  passed  beyond  the  age  where  a  liking  for 
such  literature  is  most  easily  and  naturally  cultivated. 
They  move  on  to  other  things.  They  have  passed 
through  one  great  stage  of  education  and  have 
emerged  with  a  meagre  and  barren  outfit. 

The  importance  of  oral  work  as  a  lively  means  of 
entrance  to  studies  is  seen  also  in  other  branches 
besides  literature. 

In  geography  and  history  the  first  year  or  two  of 
introductory  study  is  planned  for  the  best  schools  in 
the  form   of  oral  narrative   and   discussion.     Home 


THE    REASON    FOR   ORAL   WORK   IN    STORIES         II 

geography  in  the  third  or  fourth  year,  and  history 
stories  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  of  school,  are 
best  presented  without  a  text  book  by  the  teacher. 
Although  the  children  have  already  overcome,  to 
some  extent,  the  difficulty  of  reading,  so  great  is  the 
power  of  oral  presentation  and  discussion  to  vivify 
and  realize  geographical  and  historical  scenes  that 
the  book  is  discarded  at  first  for  the  oral  treat- 
ment. 

In  natural  science  also,  from  the  first  year  on  the 
teacher  must  employ  an  oral  method  of  treatment. 
The  use  of  books  is  not  only  impossible,  but  even 
after  the  children  have  learned  to  read,  it  would 
defeat  the  main  purpose  of  instruction  to  make  books 
the  chief  means  of  study.  The  ability  to  observe 
and  discern  things,  to  use  their  own  senses  in  dis- 
criminating and  comparing  objects,  in  experiments 
and  investigations,  is  the  fundamental  purpose. 

In  language  lessons,  again,  it  is  much  better  to  use 
a  book  only  as  a  guide  and  to  handle  the  lessons 
orally,  collecting  examples  and  stories  from  other 
studies  as  the  basis  for  language  discussions. 

It  is  apparent  from  this  brief  survey  that  an  oral 
method  is  appropriate  to  the  early  treatment  of  all 
the  common  school  studies,  that  it  gives  greater 
vivacity,  intensity,  simplicity,  and  clearness  to  all 
such  introductory  studies. 

The  importance  of  story-telling  and  the  initiatior 
of   children   into   the   delightful  fields   of   lite^  " 


12  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

through  the  teacher  rather  than  through  the  book 
are  found  to  harmonize  with  a  mode  of  treatment 
common  to  all  the  studies  in  early  years. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
the  early  literature  of  the  European  nations  was 
developed  and  communicated  to  the  people  by  word 
of  mouth.  The  Homeric  songs  were  chanted  or 
sung  at  the  courts  of  princes.  At  Athens,  in  her 
palmy  days,  the  great  dramatists  and  poets  either 
recited  their  productions  to  the  people  or  had  them 
presented  to  thousands  of  citizens  in  the  open-air 
theatres.  Even  historians  like  Thucidides  read  or 
recited  their  great  histories  before  the  assembled 
people.  In  the  early  history  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  other  countries,  the  minstrels  sang  their  ballads 
and  epic  poems  in  the  baronial  halls  and  thus  de- 
veloped the  early  forms  of  music  and  poetry. 
Shakespeare  wrote  his  dramas  for  the  theatre,  and 
he  seems  to  have  paid  no  attention  at  all  to  their 
appearance  in  book  form,  never  revising  them  or 
putting  them  into  shape  for  the  press. 

This  practice  of  all  the  early  races  of  putting  their 
great  literature  before  the  people  by  song,  dramatic 
action,  and  word  of  mouth  is  very  suggestive  to  the 
teacher.  The  power  and  effectiveness  of  this  mode 
of  presentation,  not  only  in  early  times  but  even  in 
the  highly  civilized  cities  of  London  and  Athens,  is 
unmistakable  proof  of  the  educative  value  of  such 
the^s  of  teaching.     This  is  only  another  indication 


THE    REASON    FOR    ORAL    WORK    IN    STORIES  1 3 

of  the  kinship  of  child  life  with  race  life,  which  has 
been  emphasized  by  many  great  thinkers. 

The  oral  method  offers  a  better  avenue  for  all  vig- 
orous modes  of  expression  than  the  reading  book. 
It  can  be  observed  that  the  general  tendency  of  the 
book  is  toward  a  formal,  expressionless  style  in 
young  readers.  Go  into  a  class  where  the  teacher  is 
handling  a  story  orally  and  you  will  see  her  falling 
naturally  into  all  forms  of  vivid  narrative  and  pres- 
entation, gesture,  facial  expression,  versatile  intona- 
tion, blackboard  sketching  and  picture  work,  the 
impersonation  of  characters  in  dialogue,  dramatic 
action,  and  general  liveliness  of  manner.  The  chil- 
dren naturally  take  up  these  same  activities  and  modes 
of  uttering  themselves.  Even  without  the  suggestion 
of  teachers,  little  children  express  themselves  in  such 
actions,  attitudes,  and  impersonations.  This  may  be 
often  observed  in  little  boys  and  girls  of  kindergarten 
age,  when  telling  their  experiences  to  older  persons, 
or  when  playing  among  themselves.  The  freedom, 
activity,  and  vivacity  of  children  is,  indeed,  in  strong 
contrast  to  the  apathetic,  expressionless,  monotonous 
style  of  many  grown  people,  including  teachers. 

But  the  oral  treatment  of  stories  has  a  tendency  to 
work  out  into  modes  of  activity  even  more  effective 
than  those  just  described. 

In  recent  years,  since  so  much  oral  work  has  been 
done  in  elementary  schools,  children  have  been  en- 
couraged also  to  express  themselves  freely  in  black- 


14  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

board  drawings  and  in  pencil  work  at  their  desks  by 
way  of  illustrating  the  stories  told.  Moreover,  in 
paper  cutting,  to  represent  persons  and  scenes,  in 
clay  modelling,  to  mould  objects  presented,  and 
in  constructive  and  building  efforts,  in  making  forts, 
tents,  houses,  tools,  dress,  and  in  showing  up  modes 
of  life,  the  children  have  found  free  scope  for  their 
physical  and  mental  activities.  These  have  not  only 
led  to  greater  clearness  and  vividness  in  their  men- 
tal conceptions,  but  have  opened  out  new  fields  of  self- 
activity  and  inventiveness. 

So  long  as  work  in  reading  and  literature  was  con- 
fined to  the  book  exercises,  nearly  all  these  modes  of 
expression  were  little  employed  and  even  tabooed. 

Finally,  the  free  use  of  oral  narrative  in  the  litera- 
ture of  early  years,  in  story-telling  and  its  attendant 
modes  of  expression,  opens  up  to  primary  teachers 
a  rare  opportunity  of  becoming  genuine  educators. 
There  was  a  time,  and  it  still  continues  with  many 
primary  teachers,  when  teaching  children  to  read 
was  a  matter  of  pure  routine,  of  formal  verbal  drills 
and  repetitions,  as  tiresome  to  the  teacher,  if  possible, 
as  to  the  little  ones.  But  now  that  literature,  with  its 
treasures  of  thought  and  feeling,  of  culture  and  re- 
finement, has  become  the  staple  of  the  primary 
school,  teachers  have  a  wide  and  rich  field  of  inspir- 
ing study.  The  mastery  and  use  of  much  of  the 
preferred  literature  which  has  dropped  down  to  us 
out  of  the  past  is  the  peculiar  function  of  the  pri- 


THE    REASON    FOR    ORAL    WORK   IN    STORIES  1 5 

mary  teacher.  Contact  with  great  minds,  like  those 
of  Kingsley,  Ruskin,  Andersen,  the  Grimm  brothers, 
Stevenson,  Dickens,  Hawthorne,  De  Foe,  Browning, 
^Esop,  Homer,  and  the  unknown  authors  of  many  of 
the  best  ballads,  epics,  and  stories,  is  enough  to  give 
the  primary  teacher  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  her 
work.  On  the  other  hand,  the  opportunity  to  give  to 
children  the  free  and  versatile  development  of  their 
active  powers  is  an  equal  encouragement. 

Teachers  who  have  taken  up  with  zeal  this  great 
problem  of  introducing  children  to  their  full  birth- 
right, the  choice  literature  of  the  world  suited  to  their 
years,  and  of  linking  this  story  work  with  primary 
reading  so  as  to  give  it  vitality,  —  such  teachers  have 
found  school  life  assuming  new  and  unwonted 
charms;  the  great  problems  of  the  educator  have 
become  theirs;  the  broadened  opportunity  for  the 
acquisition  of  varied  skill  and  professional  efficiency 
has  given  a  strong  ambitious  tone  to  their  work. 


CHAPTER   II 

The  Basis  of  Skill  in  Oral  Work 

Accepting  the  statement  that  skill  in  oral  presen- 
tation of  a  story  is  a  prime  demand  in  early  educa- 
tion, the  important  question  for  teachers  is  how  to 
cultivate  their  resources  in  this  phase  of  teaching, 
how  to  become  good  story-tellers. 

It  may  be  remarked  that,  for  the  great  majority  of 
people,  story-telling  is  not  a  gift  but  an  acquisition. 
There  are,  of  course,  occasional  geniuses,  but  they 
may  be  left  out  of  consideration.  They  are  not 
often  found  in  the  schoolroom  any  more  than  in 
other  walks  of  life.  What  we  need  is  a  practical, 
sensible  development  of  a  power  which  we  all  possess 
in  varying  degrees.  Nor  is  it  the  fluent,  volatile, 
verbose  talker  who  makes  a  good  oral  teacher,  but 
rather  one  who  can  see  and  think  clearly :  one  who 
knows  how  to  combine  his  ideas  and  experiences  into 
clear  and  connected  series  of  thought. 

We  may  proceed,  therefore,  to  a  discussion  of  the 
needs  and  resources  of  a  good  story-teller. 

i.  Without  much  precaution  it  may  be  stated  that 
he  should  have  a  rich  experience  in  all  the  essential 
realities  of  human  life.     This  covers  a  large  field  of 

16 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN   ORAL   WORK  1 7 

common  things  and  refers  rather  to  contact  with  life 
than  to  mere  book  knowledge.  Yet  it  is  the  depth, 
heartiness,  and  variety  of  knowledge  rather  than 
the  source  from  which  it  springs  that  concerns  us. 
Books  often  give  us  just  this  deep  penetrating  ex- 
perience, as  soon  as  we  learn  how  to  select  and 
use  them.  We  need  to  know  human  life  directly 
and  in  all  sorts  of  acts,  habits,  feelings,  motives, 
and  conditions,  —  something  as  Shakespeare  knew  it, 
only  within  the  compass  of  our  narrower  possibili- 
ties. Likewise  the  physical  world  with  its  visible 
and  invisible  forces  and  objects  besetting  us  on  every 
side.  These  things  must  impress  themselves  upon 
us  vividly  in  detail  as  well  as  in  the  bulk.  The  hand 
that  has  been  calloused  by  skill-producing  labor,  the 
back  that  aches  with  burdens  bravely  borne,  the 
brain  that  has  sweat  with  strong  effort,  are  expres- 
sions of  this  kind  of  knowledge  of  the  world.  Clear- 
grained  perceptions  are  acquired  from  many  sources : 
from  travel,  labor,  books,  reflection,  sickness,  observa- 
tion. I  go  to-day  into  a  small  shop  where  heavy  oak 
beer-kegs  are  made,  and  watch  the  man  working  this 
refractory  material  into  water-tight  kegs  that  will 
stand  hard  usage  at  the  hands  of  hard  drinkers  for 
twenty  years.  If  my  mind  has  been  at  work  as  I 
watch  this  man  for  an  hour,  with  his  heavy  rough 
staves  made  by  hand,  his  tools  and  machines,  his 
skill  and  strong  muscular  action,  the  amount  and 
profit  of  his  labor,  that  man's  work  has  gone  deep 


1 8  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

into  my  whole  being.  I  can  almost  live  his  life  in 
an  hour's  time,  and  feel  its  contact  with  the  acute 
problems  of  our  modern  industrial  life.  That  is  a 
kind  of  knowledge  and  experience  worth  fully  as 
much  as  a  sermon  in  Trinity  Church  or  a  University 
lecture. 

The  teacher  needs  a  great  store  of  these  concrete 
facts  and  illustrations.  Without  them  he  is  a  car- 
penter without  tools  or  boards.  He  needs  to  know 
industries,  occupations,  good  novels,  typical  life 
scenes,  sunsets,  sorrows,  joys,  inventions,  poets, 
farmers  —  all  such  common,  tangible  things.  Even 
from  fools  and  blackguards  he  can  get  experiences 
that  will  last  him  a  lifetime  if  they  only  strike  in  and 
do  not  flare  off  into  nothingness. 

Social  experience  in  all  sorts  of  human  natures, 
disposition,  and  environing  circumstance  is  immedi- 
ately valuable  to  the  teacher. 

Close  acquaintance  with  children,  with  their  early 
feelings  and  experiences,  with  their  timidity  or  bold- 
ness, with  their  whims  or  conceits,  their  dislikes  and 
preferences,  their  enthusiasms  and  interests,  with  their 
peculiar  home  and  neighborhood  experiences  and 
surroundings,  with  their  games  and  entertainments, 
with  the  books  and  papers  they  read,  with  their  dolls 
and  playthings,  their  vacations  and  outings,  with 
their  pets  and  playhouses,  with  their  tools  and 
mechanical  contrivances  —  all  these  and  other  like 
realities  of  child  life  put  the  teacher  on  a  footing 


THE   BASIS    OF    SKILL   IN    ORAL   WORK  1 9 

of  possible  appreciation  and  sympathy  with  children. 
These  are  the  materials  and  facts  which  a  good 
teacher  knows   how  to  work  up  in  oral  recitations. 

Of  course  the  kindly,  sympathetic  social  mood 
which  is  not  fretted  by  others*  frailties  and  perversi- 
ties, but,  like  Irving  or  Addison,  exhibits  a  liberal 
charity  or  humorous  affection  for  all  things  human,  is 
a  fortunate  possession  or  acquisition  for  the  teacher. 

2.  It  may  be  said  also,  without  fear  of  violent  con- 
tradiction, that  a  teacher  needs  to  be  a  master  of  the 
story  he  is  about  to  tell.  It  may  be  well  to  spread 
out  to  view  the  important  things  necessary  to  such  a 
mastery.  The  reading  over  of  the  story  till  its  facts 
and  episodes  have  become  familiar  and  can  be  repro- 
duced in  easy  narrative  is  at  least  a  minimum  re- 
quirement. Even  this  moderate  demand  is  much 
more  serious  than  the  old  text-book  routine  in  history 
or  reading,  where  the  teacher,  with  one  eye  on  the 
book,  the  other  on  the  class,  and  his  finger  at  the 
place,  managed  to  get  the  questions  before  the  class 
in  a  fixed  order. 

Let  us  look  a  little  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
story.  What  is  its  central  idea,  the  author's  aim  or 
motive  in  producing  it  ?  Not  a  little  effort  and  reflec- 
tion may  be  necessary  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  this 
question.  Some  of  the  most  famous  stories,  like  "  Alad- 
din," "Gulliver's  Travels,"  and  the  "City  Musicians," 
may  be  so  wild  and  wayward  as  to  elude  or  blunt  the 
point  of  this  question.     The  story  may  have  a  hard 


20  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

shell,  but  the  sharp  teeth  of  reflection  will  get  at  the 
sweet  kernel  within,  else  the  story  is  not  worth  while. 
In  some  of  the  stories,  like  "  Baucis  and  Philemon,'* 
"The  Great  Stone  Face,"  "The  Pied  Piper  of  Hame- 
lin,"  "  The  Discontented  Pine  Tree,"  and  "  Hiawa- 
tha's Fasting,"  the  main  truth  is  easily  reflected 
from  the  story  and  caught  up  even  by  the  children. 

This  need  for  getting  at  the  heart  of  the  story  is 
clearly  seen  in  all  the  subsequent  work.  It  is  the 
exercise  of  such  a  critical  judgment  which  qualifies 
the  teacher  to  discriminate  between  good  and  poor 
stories.  In  the  treatment  of  the  story  the  essential 
topics  are  laid  out  upon  the  basis  of  this  controlling 
idea  or  motive.  The  leading  aims  and  carefully 
worded  questions  point  toward  this  central  truth. 
The  side  lights  and  attendant  episodes  are  arranged 
with  reference  to  it  like  the  scenes  in  a  drama.  The 
effort  to  get  at  the  central  truth  and  the  related  ideas 
is  a  sifting-out  process,  a  mode  of  assimilating  and 
mastering  the  story  more  thorough-going  than  the 
mere  memorizing  of  the  facts  and  words  for  the  pur- 
pose of  narration.  The  thought-getting  self -activity 
and  common-sense  logic  which  are  involved  in  this 
mode  of  assimilating  a  story  are  good  for  both  pupils 
and  teacher. 

The  mastery  of  a  story  needed  by  an  oral  teacher 
implies  abundance  of  resource  in  illustrative  device 
and  explanation.  When  children  fail  to  grasp  an 
idea,  it  is  necessary  to  fall  back  upon  some  familiar 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL   WORK  21 

object  or  experience  not  mentioned  in  the  book. 
Emergencies  arise  which  tax  the  teacher's  ingenuity 
to  the  utmost.  Even  the  children  will  raise  queries 
that  baffle  his  wit.  In  preparing  a  story  for  the 
classroom  it  is  necessary  to  see  it  from  many  sides, 
to  foresee  these  problems  and  difficulties.  Often- 
times the  collateral  knowledge  derived  from  history 
or  geography  or  from  similar  episodes  in  other  stories 
will  suggest  the  solution. 

It  is  a  favorite  maxim  of  college  teachers  and  of 
those  who  deal  mostly  with  adults  or  older  pupils, 
that  if  a  person  knows  a  thing  he  can  teach  it. 
Leaving  out  of  account  the  numerous  cases  of  those 
who  are  well  posted  in  their  subjects,  but  cannot 
teach,  it  is  well  to  note  the  scope,  variety,  and  thor- 
oughness of  knowledge  necessary  to  a  good  teacher 
to  handle  it  skilfully  with  younger  children.  Besides 
the  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject  which  scholars 
have  demanded,  it  requires  an  equally  clear  knowl- 
edge of  the  mental  resources  of  children,  the  lan- 
guage which  they  can  understand,  the  things  which 
attract  their  interest  and  attention,  and  the  ways  of 
holding  the  attention  of  a  group  of  children  of  differ- 
ent capacities,  temper,  and  disposition.  Any  dog- 
matic professor  who  thinks  he  can  teach  the  story  of 
"  Cinderella  "  or  Andersen's  "  Five  Peas  in  the  Pod," 
because  he  has  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  the 
story,  should  make  trial  of  his  skill  upon  a  class  of 
twenty  children  in  the  first  grade.     We  suggest,  how- 


22  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

ever,  that  he  do  it  quietly,  without  inviting  in  his 
friends  to  witness  his  triumph. 

No,  the  mastery  of  the  subject  needed  for  an  effec- 
tive handling  of  it  in  oral  work  is  different  and  is 
greater  than  they  have  yet  dreamed  of  who  think 
that  mere  objective  knowledge  is  all  that  is  needed 
by  a  teacher.  The  application  of  knowledge  to  life 
is  generally  difficult,  more  taxing  by  far  than  the 
mere  acquisition  of  facts  and  principles.  But  the 
use  of  one's  knowledge  in  the  work  of  instructing 
young  children,  in  getting  them  to  acquire  and  assim- 
ilate it,  is  perhaps  the  most  difficult  of  all  forms  of 
the  application  of  knowledge.  It  is  difficult  because 
it  is  so  complex.  To  think  clearly  and  accurately  on 
some  topic  for  one's  single  self  is  not  easy,  but 
to  get  twenty  children  of  varying  capacities  and 
weaknesses,  with  their  stumbling,  acquisitive,  flaring 
minds,  to  keep  step  along  one  clear  line  of  thought 
is  a  piece  of  daring  enterprise. 

The  mastery  of  the  story,  therefore,  for  successful 
oral  work,  must  be  detailed,  comprehensive,  many- 
sided,  and  adapted  to  the  fluttering  thoughts  of  child- 
hood. 

3.  The  chief  instrument  through  which  the  teacher 
communicates  the  story  is  oral  speech,  and  this  he 
needs  to  wield  with  discriminating  skill  and  power. 
Preachers  and  lecturers,  when  called  upon  to  talk  to 
children,  nearly  always  talk  over  their  heads,  using 
language    not  appropriate    and    comprehensible    to 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  23 

children.  Those  accustomed  to  deal  with  little  folks 
are  quickly  sensitive  to  this  amateur  awkwardness. 
Young  teachers  just  out  of  the  higher  schools  make 
the  same  blunder.  They  are  also  inclined  to  think 
that  fluency  and  verbosity  are  a  sign  of  power.  But 
such  false  tinsel  makes  no  impression  upon  children 
except  confusion  of  thought.  Children  require 
simple,  direct  words,  clearly  defined  in  thought  and 
grounded  upon  common  experience  and  conviction. 
Facts  and  realities  should  stand  behind  the  words  of 
a  teacher.  What  he  seeks  to  marshal  before  chil- 
dren is  people  and  things.  Words  should  serve  as 
photographs  of  objects ;  instantaneous  views  of  expe- 
riences. In  some  social  and  diplomatic  circles  words 
are  said  to  conceal  thought,  but  this  kind  of  verbal 
diplomacy  has  no  place  in  schools. 

It  is  an  interesting  question  how  far  the  language 
and  style  of  the  authors  should  be  preserved  by  the 
narrator.  It  would  be  an  error  to  forbid  the  exact 
use  of  the  author's  words  and  an  equal  error  to 
require  it.  It  seems  reasonable  to  say  that  the 
teacher  should  become  absorbed  in  the  author's  style 
and  mode  of  presenting  the  story.  This  will  lead  to 
a  close  approximation  to  the  author's  words,  without 
any  slavish  imitation.  In  the  midst  of  oral  presenta- 
tion and  discussion  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold 
strictly  to  the  original.  The  teacher's  own  language 
and  conception  of  the  story  will  press  in  to  simplify 
and  clarify  the  meaning.     No  one  holds  strictly  to  a 


24  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

literary  style  in  telling  a  story.  Conversational  ideas 
and  original  momentary  impulses  of  thought  demand 
their  own  forms  of  utterance.  And  yet  it  is  well  to 
appropriate  the  style  and  expression  of  the  writer  so 
as  to  accustom  the  children  to  the  best  forms.  A 
few  very  apt  and  forcible  sentences  will  be  found  in 
any  good  author  which  the  teacher  will  naturally 
employ. 

But  the  teacher  must  have  freedom.  When  he 
has  once  thoroughly  appropriated  the  story  he  must 
give  vent  to  his  own  spontaneity  and  power.  Later, 
when  the  children  come  to  read  these  stories,  they 
will  enjoy  them  in  their  full  literary  form. 

4.  The  power  of  clear  and  interesting  presentation 
of  a  story  is  one  of  the  chief  professional  acquisitions 
of  a  good  primary  teacher.  It  involves  many  things 
besides  language,  including  liveliness  of  manner, 
gesture,  facial  expression,  action,  dramatic  imperso- 
nation, skill  in  blackboard  illustration,  good  humor 
and  tact  in  working  with  children,  a  strong  imagina- 
tion, and  a  real  appreciation  for  the  literature  adapted 
to  children. 

Perhaps  the  fundamental  need  is  simplicity  and 
clearness  of  thought  and  language  combined  with  a 
pleasing  and  attractive  manner.  Vague  and  incom- 
prehensible thoughts  and  ideas  are  all  out  of  place. 
The  teacher  should  be  strict  with  himself  in  this 
matter,  and  while  reading  and  mastering  the  story, 
should  use  compulsion  upon  himself  to  arrive  at  an 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  25 

unmistakable  clearness  of  thought.  The  objects, 
buildings,  palaces,  woods,  caves,  animals,  persons, 
and  places  should  be  sharply  imaged  by  the  imagina- 
tion ;  the  feelings  and  passions  of  the  actors  should 
be  keenly  realized.  Often  a  vague  and  uncertain 
conception  needs  to  be  scanned,  the  passage  reread, 
and  the  notion  framed  into  clearness.  In  describing 
the  palace  of  the  sleeping  beauty,  begirt  with  woods, 
the  sentinels  standing  statuelike  at  the  portal,  the 
lords  and  ladies  at  their  employments,  the  teacher 
should  think  out  the  entrance  way,  hall,  rooms,  and 
persons  of  the  palace  so  clearly  that  his  thought  and 
language  will  not  stumble  over  uncertainties.  Trans- 
parent clearness  and  directness  of  thought  are  the 
result  of  effort  and  circumspection.  They  are  well 
worth  the  pains  required  to  gain  them.  A  teacher 
who  thinks  clearly  will  generate  clear  habits  of 
thought  in  children. 

The  power  of  interesting  narrative  and  description 
is  not  easily  explained.  It  is  a  thing  not  readily 
analyzed  into  its  elements.  Perhaps  the  best  way  to 
find  out  what  it  is  may  be  discovered  by  reading  the 
great  story-tellers,  such  as  Macaulay,  Irving,  Kings- 
ley,  De  Foe,  Hawthorne,  Homer,  Plutarch,  Scott, 
and  Dickens.  Novelists  like  George  Eliot,  Vic- 
tor Hugo,  Cooper,  Scott,  and  Dickens,  possess 
this  secret  also,  and  even  some  of  the  historians, 
as  Herodotus,  Fiske,  Green,  Parkman,  Motley,  and 
others.     It  is  not  so  important  that  a  teacher  should 


26  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

give  a  cold  analysis  of  their  qualities  as  that  he 
should  fall  insensibly  into  the  vivid  and  realistic  style 
of  the  best  story-tellers.  One  who  has  read  Pyle's 
Robin  Hood  stories  until  they  are  familiar  will,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  appropriate  his  fertile  and 
happy  Old-English  style,  the  sturdy  English  spirit  of 
bold  Robin,  his  playful  humor,  and  his  apt  utterance 
of  homely  truths. 

There  are  certain  qualities  that  stand  out  prom- 
inently in  the  good  story-tellers.  They  are  simple 
and  concrete  in  their  descriptions,  they  deal  very 
little  in  general,  vague  statements  or  abstractions, 
they  hold  closely  to  the  persons  of  the  story  in  the 
midst  of  interesting  surroundings,  they  are  profuse 
in  the  use  of  distinct  figures  of  speech,  appealing  to 
the  fancy  or  imagination.  They  often  have  a  humor- 
ous vein  which  gives  infinite  enjoyment  and  spreads 
a  happy  charity  throughout  the  world. 

The  art  of  graphic  illustration  on  the  blackboard 
is  in  almost  constant  demand  in  oral  work.  Even 
rude  and  untechnical  sketches  by  teachers  who  have 
no  acquired  skill  in  artistic  drawing  are  of  the  great- 
est value  in  giving  a  quick  and  accurate  perception 
of  places,  buildings,  persons,  and  surrounding  condi- 
tions of  a  story  or  action.  The  map  of  Crusoe's 
island,  the  drawings  to  represent  his  tent,  cave,  boat, 
country  residence,  fortifications,  dress,  utensils,  and 
battles  are  natural  and  simple  modes  of  realizing 
clearly  his  labors  and  adventures.     They  save  much 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  2J 

verbal  description  and  circumlocution.  The  teacher 
needs  to  acquire  absolute  boldness  and  freedom  in 
using  such  illustrative  devices.  The  children  will, 
of  course,  catch  this  spirit,  as  they  are  by  nature 
inclined  to  use  drawing  as  a  mode  of  expression. 

A  similar  freedom  in  the  teacher  is  necessary  in 
the  use  of  bodily  action,  gesture,  and  facial  expression 
in  story-telling.  The  teacher  needs  to  become  nat- 
ural, childlike,  and  mobile  in  these  things;  for  chil- 
dren are  naturally  much  given  to  such  demonstrations 
in  the  expression  of  their  thought.  Little  girls  of 
three  and  four  years  in  the  home,  when  free  from 
self-consciousness,  are  marvellously  and  delightfully 
expressive  by  means  of  eyes,  gestures,  hands,  and 
arms  and  whole  bodily  attitudes.  Why  should  not 
this  naive  expressiveness  be  gently  fostered  in  the 
school  ?  Indeed  it  is,  and  in  many  schools  the  little 
ones  are  as  happy  and  whole-souled  and  spontaneous 
in  their  modes  of  expression  as  we  have  suggested. 

Dramatization,  if  cultivated,  extends  a  teacher's 
gamut  of  expressiveness.  Our  inability  or  slowness 
to  respond  to  this  suggestion  is  a  sign  of  a  certain  nar- 
rowness or  cramp  in  our  culture  and  training.  In  Nor- 
mal schools  where  young  teachers  are  trained  in  the  art 
of  reading,  the  dramatic  instinct  should  be  strongly 
developed.  The  power  to  other  one's  self  in  dra- 
matic action,  to  assume  and  impersonate  a  variety  of 
characters,  is  a  real  expression  and  enlargement  of 
the  personality.    It  demands  sympathy  and  feeling  as 


28  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

well  as  intellectual  insight.  The  study  and  reading 
of  the  great  dramatists,  the  seeing  of  good  plays, 
amateur  efforts  in  this  direction,  the  frequent  oral 
reading  of  Shakespeare,  Dickens,  and  other  dram- 
atists and  novelists  will  cultivate  and  enlarge  the 
teacher's   power  in  this  worthy  and  wholesome  art. 

The  use  of  good  pictures  is  also  an  important 
means  of  adding  to  the  beauty  and  clearness  of 
stories.  The  pictures  of  Indian  life  in  "  Hiawatha,"  the 
illustrated  editions  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  copies 
of  ancient  works  of  art  in  some  editions  of  the  Greek 
myths,  Howard  Pyle's  illustrated  "  Robin  Hood,"  and 
other  books  of  this  character  add  greatly  to  the  vivid- 
ness of  ideas.  Such  pictures  should  be  handled  with 
care,  not  distributed  promiscuously  among  the  chil- 
dren while  the  lesson  is  going  on.  The  teacher  needs 
to  study  a  picture,  and  discuss  it  intelligently  with  the 
children,  asking  questions  which  bring  out  its  repre- 
sentative qualities. 

It  is  evident  the  skilful  oral  presentation  of  a  story 
calls  out  no  small  degree  of  clear  knowledge,  force 
of  language,  illustrative  device,  dramatic  instinct,  and 
a  freedom  and  versatility  of  action  both  mental  and 
physical. 

5.  A  clear  outline  of  leading  points  in  a  story  is  a 
source  of  strength  to  the  teacher  and  the  basis  later 
of  good  reproductive  work  by  the  children.  The 
short  stories  in  the  first  grade  hardly  need  a  formal 
outline,  and  even  in  second  grade  the  sequence  of 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  29 

ideas  in  a  story  is  often  so  simple  and  easy  that  out- 
lines of  leading  topics  may  not  be  needed.  But  in 
third  and  fourth  grade  it  is  well  in  the  preliminary 
study  and  mastery  of  a  story  to  divide  it  up  into 
clearly  marked  segments,  with  a  distinctive  title  for 
each  division.  It  is  difficult  to  get  teachers  to  do  this 
kind  of  close  logical  work,  and  still  more  difficult  to 
have  them  remember  it  in  the  midst  of  oral  presenta- 
tion and  discussion.  If  the  main  points  of  the  story 
as  thus  outlined  are  placed  upon  the  blackboard  as 
the  narrative  advances,  it  keeps  in  mind  a  clear  sur- 
vey of  the  whole  and  serves  as  the  best  basis  for  the 
children's  reproduction  of  the  story.  It  compels 
both  teacher  and  pupils  to  keep  to  a  close  logical 
connection  of  ideas  and  a  sifting  out  of  the  story  to 
get  at  the  main  points.  Without  these  well-con- 
structed outlines  the  memory  of  the  story  is  apt  to 
fall  into  uncertainty  and  confusion,  and  the  children's 
reproduction  becomes  fragmentary  and  disorderly. 
Experience  shows  that  teachers  are  prone  to  be  loose 
and  careless  in  bringing  their  stories  into  such  a  well- 
ordered  series  of  distinct  topics.  It  is  really  a  sign 
of  a  thoughtful,  logical,  and  judicious  mastery  of  a 
subject  to  have  thrown  it  thus  into  its  prominent 
points  of  narration.  Oral  work  often  fails  of  effec- 
tiveness and  thoroughness,  because  of  these  careless 
habits  of  teachers.  Such  an  outline,  when  put  into 
the  children's  regular  note-books,  serves  as  the  best 
basis  for  later  surveys  and  reviews. 


30  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

6.  The  oral  narration  and  presentation  of  stories 
has  a  curious  way  of  being  turned  into  development 
lessons,  in  which  the  teacher  deals  in  questions  and 
problematic  situations  and  the  children  work  out 
many  of  the  facts  and  incidents  of  the  story  by  a 
series  of  guesses  and  inferences.  These  are  well 
known  as  development  lessons,  and  they  are  capable 
of  exhibiting  the  highest  forms  of  excellence  in  teach- 
ing or  the  most  drivelling  waste  of  time.  The  subject 
is  a  hard  one  to  handle,  but  it  needs  a  clear  and 
simple  elucidation  as  much  as  any  problem  in  the 
teaching  profession.  Generally  speaking  it  is  better 
for  young  teachers  not  to  launch  out  recklessly  upon 
the  full  tide  of  development  instruction.  It  is  better 
to  learn  the  handling  of  the  craft  on  quieter  waters. 
Development  work  needs  to  be  well  charted.  The 
varying  winds  and  currents,  storms  and  calms,  need 
to  be  studied  and  experienced  before  one  may  become 
a  good  ship's  master.  Let  young  teachers  first 
acquire  power  in  clear,  simple,  direct  narration  and 
description,  using  apt  and  forcible  language  and 
holding  to  a  clear-cut  line  of  thought.  This  is  no 
slight  task,  and  when  once  mastered  and  fixed  in 
habit  becomes  the  foundation  of  a  wider  freedom  and 
skill  in  development  exercises.  The  works  of  the 
great  story-tellers  furnish  excellent  models  of  this 
sort  of  skill,  and  teachers  may  follow  closely  in  the 
lines  struck  out  by  Scott  or  Hawthorne  in  narrating 
a  story. 


THE   BASIS   OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  3 1 

A  book  story  cannot  do  otherwise  than  simply 
narrate;  it  cannot  develop,  set  problems  and  ques- 
tions and  have  children  to  find  solutions  and  answers. 
It  must  tell  the  facts  and  answer  the  questions.  But 
in  oral  narration  there  is  room  not  only  for  all  the 
skill  of  the  story-writer,  but  also  the  added  force  of 
voice,  personality,  lively  manner,  gesture,  action,  and 
close  adaptation  to  the  immediate  needs  of  children 
and  subject.  This  is  enough  to  command  the  undi- 
vided effort  of  the  young  teacher  at  first,  without 
entering  the  stormy  waters  and  shifting  currents  of 
pure  development  work. 

Yet  the  spirited  teacher  will  not  go  far  in  narrating 
a  story  without  a  tendency  to  ask  questions  to  inten- 
sify the  children's  thought,  or  to  quicken  the  discus- 
sion of  interesting  points.  Even  if  the  teachers  or 
parents  are  but  reading  a  good  story  from  a  book, 
it  is  most  natural,  at  times,  to  ask  questions  about 
the  meaning  of  certain  new  words,  or  geographical 
locations,  or  probabilities  in  the  working  out  of  the 
story.  These  are  the  simple  beginnings  of  develop- 
ment work,  and  produce  greater  thoughtfulness, 
keener  perceptions  of  the  facts,  and  a  better  absorp- 
tion of  the  story  into  a  child's  previous  knowledge. 

A  sharp  limitation  of  development  work  is  also 
found  in  the  circumstance  that  a  large  share  of  the 
facts  in  a  story  cannot  by  any  sort  of  ingenuity  be 
developed.  They  form  the  necessary  basis  for  later 
development  questions.      Even   many   of   the   facts 


32  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

which  might  be  developed  by  a  skilful  teacher  arc 
better  told  directly,  because  of  the  difficulty  and 
time-devouring  nature  of  the  process.  There  may 
be  a  few  central  problems  in  every  story,  which,  after 
the  necessary  facts  and  conditions  have  been  plainly 
told,  can  be  thoroughly  sifted  out  by  questions,  an- 
swers, and  discussions.  But  to  work  out  all  the  little 
details  of  a  story  by  question  and  surmise,  to  get  the 
crude,  unbaked  opinions  of  all  the  members  of  a  class 
upon  every  episode  and  fact  in  a  story,  is  a  pitiful 
caricature  of  good  instruction. 

The  purpose  of  good  development  work  is  to  get 
children  to  go  deeper  into  the  meaning  of  a  story,  to 
realize  its  situations  more  keenly,  and  to  acquire 
habits  of  thoughtfulness,  self-reliant  judgment,  and 
inventiveness  in  solving  difficulties.  These  results, 
and  they  are  among  the  chiefest  set  for  the  educator, 
cannot  be  accomplished  by  mere  narration  and  de- 
scription. Their  superior  excellence  and  worth  are 
the  prize  of  that  superior  skill  which  first-class  devel- 
opment work  demands. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks,  criticisms,  and 
limitations  in  mind,  we  may  inquire  what  are  the  es- 
sentials of   good  development  work  in  oral  lessons. 

(i)  Determine  what  parts  of  a  story  are  capable  of 
development ;  what  facts  must  be  clearly  present  to 
the  mind  before  questions  can  be  put  and  inferences 
derived.  In  a  problem  in  arithmetic  we  first  state 
the  known  facts,  the  conditions  upon  which  a  solu- 


THE   BASIS    OF   SKILL    IN   ORAL    WORK  33 

tion  can  be  based,  and  then  put  a  question  whose 
answer  is  to  be  gained  by  a  proper  conjunction  and 
inference  from  these  facts.  The  same  thing  is  true 
in  reasoning  upon  the  facts  in  a  story. 

(2)  In  placing  a  topic  before  children  it  is  always 
advisable  to  touch  up  the  knowledge  already  pos- 
sessed by  the  children,  or  any  parts  of  their  previous 
experience  which  have  strong  interpretative  ideas  for 
the  new  lesson.  At  this  point  apt  questions  which 
probe  quickly  into  their  previous  knowledge  and 
experience  are  at  a  premium.  The  teacher  needs 
to  have  considered  beforehand  in  what  particulars 
the  children's  home  surroundings  and  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances may  furnish  the  desired  knowledge.  The 
form  of  the  questions  may  also  receive  close  atten- 
tion. For  these  words  must  provoke  definite  thought. 
They  should  have  hooks  on  them  which  quickly  drag 
experience  into  light. 

(3)  In  order  to  give  direction  to  the  children's 
thoughts  on  the  story's  line  of  progress,  interesting 
aims  should  be  set  up.  These  aims,  without  antici- 
pating precise  results,  must  guide  the  children 
towards  the  desired  ends  and  turning-points  in  the 
story.  The  mind  should  be  kept  in  suspense  as  to 
the  outcome,  and  the  thoughts  should  centre  and 
play  about  these  clearly  projected  aims.  Such  aims, 
floating  constantly  in  the  van,  are  the  objective 
points,  towards  which  the  energy  of  thought  is 
directed.     Every  good   story-teller  keeps  such  aims 


34  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

expressly  or  tacitly  in  view.  Novelists  and  drama- 
tists hinge  the  interest  of  readers  or  spectators 
upon  this  curiosity  which  is  kept  acutely  sensitive 
about  results.  Such  an  aim  should  be  simple  and 
concrete,  not  vague  or  abstract,  or  general.  It  may 
be  put  in  the  form  of  a  question  or  statement  or 
suggestion.  It  will  be  a  good  share  of  the  teacher's 
work  in  the  preparation  of  the  lesson  to  pick  out  and 
word  these  aims  which  centre  upon  the  leading 
topics  of  the  lesson.  For  it  is  not  enough  to  have 
an  aim  at  the  beginning  of  a  story,  every  chapter 
or  separate  part  of  the  story  should  have  its  aim. 
For  aims  are  what  stimulate  effort  and  keep  up  an 
attentive  interest. 

(4)  Self-activity  and  thoughtfulness  in  working 
out  problems  find  their  best  opportunity  in  develop- 
ment work.  The  book,  in  narrating  a  story,  cannot 
set  problems,  or,  if  it  does,  it  forthwith  assumes  the 
task  of  solving  them.  But  in  the  oral  development 
of  a  story  the  essential  facts  and  conditions  may  be 
clearly  presented  and  the  solution  of  the  difficulties, 
as  in  arithmetic,  left  largely  to  the  ingenuity  and 
reasoning  power  of  the  children.  In  the  story  of 
Hiawatha's  boat-building  the  problem  may  be  set  to 
the  children  as  to  what  materials  he  will  use  in  the 
construction  of  the  canoe,  how  the  parts  were  put 
together,  and  how  he  might  decorate  it.  Not  that 
the  children  will  give  the  whole  solution,  but  they 
can  contribute  much  to  it.      In  "  Robinson  Crusoe  " 


THE    BASIS   OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  35 

many  such  problems  arise.  How  shall  he  conceal 
his  cave  and  house  from  possible  enemies  ?  Where 
can  he  store  his  powder  to  keep  it  from  the  lightning 
and  from  dampness  ?  In  fact,  nearly  every  step  in 
Crusoe's  interesting  career  is  such  a  problem  or  diffi- 
culty to  battle  with.  In  Kingsley's  "  Greek  Heroes  " 
and  other  renderings  of  the  Greek  myths,  the  heroes 
are  young  men  who  have  shrewdness,  courage,  and 
strength  to  overcome  difficulties.  To  put  these  diffi- 
culties before  children  in  such  a  way  that  they  by 
their  own  thinking  may  anticipate,  in  part  at  least, 
the  proper  solutions,  is  one  of  the  chief  merits  of 
development  work.  The  story  of  Ulysses  is  a  series 
of  shrewd  contrivances  to  master  difficulties  or  to 
avoid  misfortunes,  so  that  his  name  has  become  a 
synonym  for  shrewdness.  The  story  itself,  therefore, 
furnishes  prime  opportunities  to  develop  resourceful- 
ness. How  shall  he  escape  from  the  enraged  Poly- 
phemos  in  the  cave  ?  His  invention  of  the  wooden 
horse  before  Troy ;  his  escape  from  the  sirens ;  his 
battle  with  the  suitors  and  others.  The  story  of 
Aladdin  has  such  interesting  inventions,  and  even 
the  fairy  tales  and  fables  have  many  turns  of  shrewd- 
ness and  device  where  the  children's  wits  may 
be  stimulated.  The  turning-points  and  centres  of 
interest  in  all  such  stories  are  the  true  wrestling- 
grounds  of  thought.  To  put  them  point-blank  before 
children  in  continuous  narrative,  without  question 
or  discussion,  is  not  the  way  to  produce  thoughtful- 


36  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

ness  and  inventive  power.  Merely  reading  or  telling 
stories  to  children  without  comment  is  entertaining, 
but  not  educative  in  the  better  sense.  Children  will 
have  plenty  of  chances  at  home  and  in  the  school 
library  to  read  and  hear  stories,  but  it  is  the  business 
of  the  school  to  teach  them  how  to  think  as  they 
read,  to  produce  a  habit  of  foreseeing,  reviewing, 
comparing,  and  judging.  The  serious  defect  of 
much  of  young  people's  reading,  from  ten  years  on, 
is  its  superficial,  transitory  character.  It  lacks  depth, 
strength,  and  permanency.  It  is  not  many  stories 
that  can  be  orally  treated  in  this  thorough-going  way, 
but  enough  to  give  the  right  idea,  and  to  cultivate 
habit  and  taste  for  more  thoughtful  study. 

For  skilled  teachers,  therefore,  development  lessons, 
within  certain  limits,  constitute  a  most  important 
phase  of  oral  instruction.  It  has  been  sometimes 
assumed  that  a  child  acquires  greater  self-reliance 
and  a  stronger  exercise  in  self-activity  by  learning 
his  lesson  by  himself  from  a  book.  This  is  probably 
true  in  much  of  the  arithmetic,  where  he  works  out 
the  solution  of  problems  unaided ;  but  in  history  and 
literature  the  book  work  is  chiefly  memory  work,  and 
oftentimes  becomes  of  such  parrot-like  character 
as  to  be  almost  destitute  of  higher  educative  quali- 
ties. It  is  advisable,  therefore,  to  strengthen  the 
educative  value  of  story  work  by  giving  it,  through 
oral  instruction,  this  problem-solving  character,  this 
thought-stimulating,  self-reliant  attitude  of  mind. 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN   ORAL    WORK  37 

7.  When  the  teacher  has  shown  his  best  skill  in 
presenting  and  discussing  a  section  of  a  story,  it  then 
devolves  upon  the  children  to  show  their  knowledge 
and  grasp  of  the  subject  by  reproducing  it.  The 
task  of  getting  this  well  done  requires,  perhaps,  as 
much  skill  and  force  of  character  as  all  previous 
work  of  oral  instruction.  Obstacles  are  met  with  at 
once.  It  is  dull  work  to  go  back  over  the  same  thing 
again,  and  the  children  soon  get  tired  of  it.  They 
want  something  new  and  more  exciting,  and  press 
for  the  rest  of  the  story.  Many  children  are  at  first 
deficient  in  power  of  attention  and  in  language,  so 
that  their  efforts  at  reproduction  are  clumsy  and  poor. 
The  interest  is  weak,  the  attention  of  the  children 
scattering,  and  the  class  is  apt  to  go  to  pieces  under 
the  strain  of  such  dull  work.  This  is  an  emergency 
where  a  teacher  needs  both  skill  and  force  of  char- 
acter. (What  a  comfort  it  is  to  a  writer  to  have  such 
a  platitude  as  this  to  fall  back  upon,  when  he  gets 
a  teacher  into  a  place  where  nothing  but  his  own 
devices  can  save  him.) 

There  are,  however,  some  hopeful  considerations 
which  may  encourage  a  teacher  whose  feet  are  not 
already  too  deep  in  the  bog  of  discouragement. 

Children  enjoy  the  retelling  of  good  stories  with 
which  they  are  familiar.  They  will  do  it  at  home, 
even  if  they  are  not  very  proficient  at  it  in  school. 
In  every  class  there  are  some  talkative  children  who 
are  always  willing  to  make  an  effort.     Again,  it  is 


38  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

not  always  difficult  to  interest  boys  and  girls  in  doing 
a  thing  that  requires  skill  and  power,  such  as  memory, 
attentiveness,  and  mastery  of  correct  language.  The 
force  of  the  teacher's  influence  and  authority  is  worth 
something  in  setting  up  high  standards  of  proficiency. 
Indeed,  children  respect  a  teacher  who  makes  rigor- 
ous demands  upon  them.  The  retelling  of  stories 
is,  after  all,  no  harder  nor  duller  than  the  reciting  of 
a  lesson  learned  out  of  a  book. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  whole  effectiveness  of  oral 
work  depends  upon  the  success  of  these  oral  repro- 
ductions. If  children  know  that  the  teacher  is  in 
earnest  they  will  be  more  attentive,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  fulfil  the  requirement.  Such  a  reproduction 
reveals  at  once  a  child's  correct  or  incorrect  grasp 
of  the  subject,  and  in  either  case  the  teacher  knows 
what  to  do  next.  Errors  and  misconceptions  can  be 
corrected  and  such  explanations  or  additional  facts 
given  as  will  clarify  the  subject. 

In  such  reproductions  it  is  praiseworthy  to  help 
the  children  as  little  as  possible,  to  throw  them  back 
upon  their  own  power  as  much  as  possible.  If  the 
teacher  constantly  relieves  them  with  suggestive  ques- 
tions, they  lean  more  and  more  upon  her  direction 
and  lose  all  self-reliant  power  of  continuous  narra- 
tive. No,  let  the  teacher  keep  a  prudent  silence,  let 
her  seal  her  lips,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  teach  boys 
and  girls  to  stand  on  their  own  power  of  thought. 

Under  this  sort  of  discipline,  kindly  but  rigorous, 


THE    BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  39 

children  will  gradually  acquire  confidence  in  manner, 
variety  and  choice  of  language,  in  short,  the  ability  to 
grasp  clearly,  hold  firmly,  and  express  accurately  the 
ideas  which  are  presented  to  them. 

The  whole  purpose  of  this  sort  of  instruction  is  not 
so  much  to  see  how  skilfully  a  teacher  can  present  a 
lesson  (though  that  is  a  fine  art)  as  to  determine  how 
well  a  boy  or  girl  can  master  or  express  knowledge, 
can  learn  to  think  and  speak  for  himself. 

8.  Some  teachers  despair  of  treating  stories  orally 
in  large  classes  of  primary  children.  The  task  of 
holding  together  such  wriggling  varieties  of  mental 
force  and  mental  inertia  is  great.  Some  children  are 
quick  and  excitable,  others  are  unresponsive  and  dull. 
Some  are  timid  and  sensitive,  others  bold  and  demon- 
strative. Some  are  talkative  and  irrepressible,  others 
silent  or  listless. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  the  function  and  value 
of  a  good  child's  story  to  fit  in  to  such  varying  needs 
and  personalities.  If  the  purpose  of  the  primary 
school  is  simply  to  keep  children  busy  at  some  kind 
of  orderly  work,  there  are  other  tamer  employments 
than  stories.  But  if  the  idea  is  to  put  children's 
minds  and  bodies  into  healthy,  vigorous  action,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  suitable  instrument 
than  a  fitting  story. 

But  a  good  primary  teacher  knows  better  than  to 
establish  brusque  and  fixed  standards  of  uniform 
success  for  all  children.     It  will  take  much  time  and 


40  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

patience  to  get  anything  like  good  oral  responses 
from  some  children.  Like  budding  flowers  some 
unfold  their  leaves  and  petals  much  quicker  at  the 
touch  of  sunshine  than  others.  But  the  sun  does  not 
stop  shining  because  all  do  not  come  out  at  once. 
The  crudest  efforts  of  little  children  must  be  received 
with  kindness  and  encouragement.  The  power  of 
reproducing  thought  and  language  is  very  slowly 
acquired  by  many  children.  They  are  timidly  self- 
conscious,  distrustful  of  their  own  powers,  and  have 
not  learned  to  throw  themselves  with  confidence  upon 
the  good-will  of  their  teachers.  It  may  take  months 
with  some  children  to  overcome  these  obstacles,  and 
to  bring  them  to  a  confident  use  of  their  powers,  but 
it  is  the  highest  delight  of  a  teacher  to  reach  this 
result. 

Some  children,  on  the  other  hand,  are  so  talkative 
and  impulsive  that  they  will  monopolize  the  time  of 
the  class  to  no  good  purpose.  Their  enthusiasm 
requires  tempering  and  their  soberer  thought  strength- 
ening. 

Another  difficulty  lies  in  the  necessary  effort  to  get 
correct  English,  to  gradually  mould  the  language  of 
children  into  correct  forms.  The  perverse  habits  of 
children,  the  influence  of  home  and  playground,  the 
inveterate  preference  for  slang  and  crude,  crass 
expressions,  and  their  sensitive  pride  against  unusual 
refinements  of  speech,  make  the  cultivation  of  good 
English  an  uphill  task.     But  roads  must  be  laid  out 


THE   BASIS   OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  4 1 

through  this  wilderness  of  hills  and  valleys,  stumps 
and  brush.  And  these  roads  must  be  gradually- 
worked  down  into  smooth  highways  of  travel.  It  is 
pioneer  toil,  requiring  the  steady  use  of  axe  and 
mattock  and  spade. 

There  is  no  kind  of  school  training  where  good  Eng- 
lish can  be  cultivated  to  better  advantage,  where  the 
power  of  correct,  independent,  well-articulated  speech 
can  be  so  well  strengthened  as  in  oral  story.  It  is 
in  the  close  contact  of  this  work  that  the  teacher  is 
dealing  directly  with  the  original  stock  of  experiences, 
ideas,  and  words  of  every  child,  and  with  these  as 
instruments  of  acquisition,  helping  him  to  get  a 
spirited  introduction  to  the  world  of  ideas  in  books 
and  literature. 

It  is  here  that  we  can  get  a  glimpse  of  that  vast 
work  which  the  elementary  schools  of  the  country 
are  doing  in  the  way  of  Americanizing  the  children 
of  various  nationalities  and  in  giving  them  not  only 
a  common  language,  but  a  common  body  of  ideas 
rooted  in  the  earliest  experiences  of  childhood  and 
already  laying  hold  of  many  of  the  richest  treasures 
of  American  history  and  of  the  world's  literature. 

9.  As  children  advance  from  the  first  year  into  the 
second  and  third  years  the  character  of  the  oral  story- 
telling gradually  changes.  Children  should  acquire 
more  power  of  attention,  greater  command  of  lan- 
guage and  ability  to  grasp  and  hold  at  one  telling 
a  larger  section  of  a  story.     The  stories  themselves 


42  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

become  more  complex,  the  questions  and  problems 
set  by  the  teacher  more  difficult.  The  necessity  for 
sharp,  logical  outlines  of  leading  topics  increases  as 
one  advances  in  the  grades.  Older  children  can 
be  held  more  rigidly  to  common  standards  of  excel- 
lence in  thought  and  language.  In  this,  however, 
the  teacher  should  always  remember  that  children 
differ  greatly  in  their  natural  powers  of  expression, 
and  that  a  forcing  process  will  not  be  so  successful 
as  a  stimulating  and  encouraging  attitude  in  the 
teacher. 

10.  The  good  oral  treatment  of  most  stories  leads 
the  children  to  much  activity  in  material  construc- 
tions. Where  the  minds  of  children  are  brought  to 
a  healthy  activity  their  bodies  and  physical  energies 
are  pretty  sure  to  be  called  into  play  to  work  out  the 
suggested  lines  of  thought.  "  Robinson  Crusoe"  in- 
variably leads  the  children  to  a  multitude  of  building 
and  making  enterprises,  such  as  moulding  vessels  in 
clay,  constructing  the  barricade  around  his  tent  and 
cave,  the  making  of  chairs  and  tables,  etc. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  readiness  of  children 
to  make  blackboard  or  other  drawings  of  interesting 
objects  in  a  story,  or  to  cut  them  out  with  scissors 
from  paper.  This  effort  to  experience  the  realities 
of  life  more  directly  by  making  objects  of  common 
utility  and  necessity  is  a  characteristic  and  powerful 
tendency  of  childhood.  It  is  commonly  seen  in 
children  about  the  house,  when,  for  example,  they 


THE   BASIS    OF    SKILL    IN   ORAL   WORK  43 

must  have  wagons,  wheelbarrows,  tools,  or  a  set  of 
garden  implements  with  which  to  imitate  the  employ- 
ments of  their  elders.  Parkman  and  others  often 
speak  of  the  constant  practice  of  little  Indian  boys 
with  bow  and  arrows. 

Our  purpose  here  is  not  to  discuss  this  matter  at 
length,  but  simply  to  notice  its  prominent  place  in 
connection  with  the  oral  lesson  in  story.  The  intense 
interest  awakened  in  stories  leads  quickly  to  these 
efforts  at  construction.  What  shall  the  teacher  do 
with  this  powerful  tendency  of  children  to  carry  over 
these  ideas  into  the  field  of  practical  constructive 
labor?  To  the  thinker  this  tendency  is  perhaps 
the  surest  proof  of  the  value  of  the  story.  It  does 
not  stop  with  words  nor  ideas.  It  pushes  far  into  the 
region  of  voluntary,  physical,  and  mental  labor  and 
application  of  knowledge. 

The  teacher  who  will  make  good  use  of  this  enter- 
prising constructive  desire  of  children  must  know  defi- 
nitely about  tools,  boards,  shops,  various  industries 
and  technical  trades,  the  special  materials,  inventions 
and  devices  of  artisans  in  the  common  occupations 
such  as  farming,  gardening,  blacksmithing,  the  car- 
penter  shop,  the  baker,  the  quarry,  the  brick  kiln,  etc 

It  will  not  be  strange  if  many  teachers  recoil,  at 
first  glance,  from  this  leap  into  industrial  life.  It 
suggests  that  the  schoolhouse  must  become  a  big 
machine  shop,  agricultural  station,  etc.  The  trouble 
is,  of  course,  that  teachers  do  not  feel  themselves 


44  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

qualified  in  these  things.  They  know  almost  as 
little  as  the  children  about  such  matters,  and  have 
much  less  inclination  to  know  more. 

But  our  modern  education  is  taking  a  decided  turn 
in  this  direction,  and  with  good  reason.  The  close 
acquaintance  of  our  teachers  with  the  common  occu- 
pations of  life,  with  their  materials,  tools,  machines, 
constructions,  and  skill  would  supply  them  with  a  rich 
collection  of  practical,  concrete,  illustrative  knowl- 
edge of  the  greatest  use  in  instructing  children.  It 
is  impossible  to  mention  anything  which  would  be 
of  more  service  to  them  in  the  details  of  instruction. 
The  advantages  to  the  children  of  such  teaching,  re- 
enforced  by  this  concrete  detail  of  common  life,  are 
so  numerous  and  important  as  to  deserve  a  special 
effort.  The  benefit  to  teachers  would  quickly  more 
than  recompense  them  for  the  labor  involved.  By 
occasional  visits  of  observation  in  shops,  fields,  stores, 
and  factories,  by  assisting  children  in  their  construc- 
tive efforts,  the  teacher  will  acquire  knowledge, 
strength,  and  confidence  for  such  work.  The  unfa- 
miliarity  of  teachers  with  these  everyday  industrial 
matters,  and  their  feeling  of  helplessness  as  regards 
things  not  in  the  usual  routine  of  school,  are  the  real 
hindrances  to  be  overcome. 

There  are  other  subjects  in  the  school  course,  like 
home  geography  and  the  early  lessons  in  nature 
study,  which  deal  more  directly  than  stories  with 
these  practical  forms  of  industrial  life  and  construe- 


THE   BASIS   OF    SKILL    IN    ORAL    WORK  45 

tive  activity.  They  will  also  demand  and  cultivate  an 
increasing  knowledge  of  this  practical  phase  of  life 
and  education.  The  lessons  in  oral  story-telling 
stand  thus  closely  linked  with  progressive  experi- 
mental knowledge  in  other  studies. 

A  brief  retrospect  and  summary  of  the  require- 
ments necessary  as  a  basis  of  good  oral  treatment  of 
stories  will  impress  us  with  the  skill  and  resourceful- 
ness needed  by  the  teacher. 

i.    First-hand  experience  with  the  realities  of  life. 

2.  Intimate  knowledge  and  sympathy  with  child 
life. 

3.  The  many-sided  mastery  of  the  story  for  teach- 
ing purposes. 

4.  Skill  in  the  use  of  simple,  apt,  and  forcible 
language. 

5.  Power  of  narrative  and  description,  together 
with  various  forms  of  graphic  illustration,  dramatic 
action,  etc. 

6.  Clear  and  simple  outline  of  leading  topics. 

7.  Acquired  power  in  the  use  of  development 
methods,  including  question,  problem,  discussion, 
aims,  and  the  training  of  children  to  self -activity  and 
thoughtfulness. 

8.  The  successful  oral  reproduction  of  stories  by 
the  children. 

9.  Tact  in  the  handling  of  large  classes,  with 
children  of  differing  temperament  and  capacity,  and 
the  encouragement  of  timid  children. 


46  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

10.  Changing  character  of  oral  work  in  advancing 
grades. 

ii.  The  need  of  insight  and  ability  to  supervise 
constructive  activities. 

These  things  include  a  wide  range  of  clear  knowl- 
edge and  confident  skill  and  resource.  Teachers 
need  first  of  all  to  cultivate  resourcefulness  in  the  use 
of  their  own  knowledge  and  experience,  and  to  add  to 
both  of  these  as  rapidly  as  circumstances  permit. 

The  mere  reading  of  stories  to  children  by  the 
teacher,  at  odd  times,  on  Friday  afternoons  or  on 
special  occasions,  is  also  of  much  value  as  a  means  of 
interesting  children  in  a  wide  range  of  good  books. 
It  is  a  source  of  entertainment  and  culture,  which, 
when  judiciously  and  skilfully  employed,  adds  much 
to  the  educative  power  of  the  school. 


CHAPTER   III 

First  Grade  Stories 

fairy  tales 

Young  children,  as  we  all  know,  are  delighted  with 
stories,  and  in  the  first  grade  they  are  still  in  this 
story-loving  period.  A  good  story  is  the  best  medium 
through  which  to  convey  ideas  and  also  to  approach 
the  difficulties  of  learning  to  read.  Such  a  story, 
Wilmann  says,  is  a  pedagogical  treasure.  By  many 
thinkers  and  primary  teachers  the  fairy  stories  have 
been  adopted  as  best  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  little 
folk  just  emerging  from  the  home.  A  series  of  fairy 
tales  was  selected  by  Ziller,  one  of  the  leading  Her- 
bartians,  as  a  centre  for  the  school  work  of  the  first 
year.  These  stories  have  long  held  a  large  place  in 
the  home  culture  of  children,  especially  of  the  more 
cultivated  class.  Now  it  is  claimed  that  what  is  good 
for  the  few  whose  parents  may  be  cultured  and  sym- 
pathetic, may  be  good  enough  for  the  children  of  the 
common  people  and  of  the  poor.  Moreover,  stories 
that  have  made  the  fireside  more  joyous  and  blessed 
may  perchance  bring  vivacity  and  happiness  into 
schoolrooms.  The  home  and  the  school  are  coming 
closer  together.     It  is   even   said  that  well-trained, 

47 


48  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

sympathetic  primary  teachers  may  better  tell  and 
impress  these  stories  than  overworked  mothers  and 
busy  fathers.  If  these  literary  treasures  are  left  for 
the  homes  to  discover  and  use,  the  majority  of  chil- 
dren will  know  little  or  nothing  of  them.  Many 
schools  in  this  country  have  been  using  them  in  the 
first  grade  in  recent  years  with  a  pleasing  effect. 

But  what  virtue  lies  concealed  in  these  fairy  myths 
for  the  children  of  our  practical  and  sensible  age? 
Why  should  we  draw  from  fountains  whose  sources 
are  back  in  the  prehistoric  and  even  barbarous  past  ? 
To  many  people  it  appears  as  a  curious  anachronism 
to  nourish  little  children  in  the  first  decade  of  this 
new  century  upon  food  that  was  prepared  in  the 
tents  of  wandering  tribes  in  early  European  history. 
What  are  the  merits  of  these  stories  for  children  just 
entering  upon  scholastic  pursuits  ?  They  are  known 
to  be  generally  attractive  to  children  of  this  age,  but 
many  sober-minded  people  distrust  them.  Are  they 
really  meat  and  drink  for  the  little  ones  ?  And  not 
only  so,  but  the  choicest  meat  and  drink,  the  best 
food  upon  which  to  nourish  their  unfolding  minds  ? 

Fairy  tales  are  charged  with  misleading  children 
by  falsifying  the  truth  of  things.  And,  indeed,  they 
pay  little  heed  to  certain  natural  laws  that  practical 
people  of  good  sense  always  respect.  A  child,  how- 
ever, is  not  so  humdrum  practical  as  these  serious 
truth-lovers.  A  little  girl  talks  to  her  doll  as  if  it 
had  real  ears.     She  and  her  little  brother  make  tea- 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  49 

cups  and  saucers  out  of  acorns  with  no  apparent 
compunctions  of  conscience.  They  follow  Cinderella 
to  the  ball  in  a  pumpkin  chariot,  transformed  by 
magic  wand,  with  even  greater  interest  than  we  read 
of  a  presidential  ball.  A  child  may  turn  the  com- 
mon laws  of  physical  nature  inside  out  and  not  be  a 
whit  the  worse  for  it.  Its  imagination  can  people 
a  pea-pod  with  little  heroes  aching  for  a  chance  in 
the  big  world,  or  it  can  put  tender  personality  into 
the  trunk  and  branches  of  the  little  pine  tree  in  the 
forest.  There  are  no  space  limits  that  a  child's  fancy 
will  not  spring  over  in  a  twinkling.  It  can  ride  from 
star  to  star  on  a  broomstick,  or  glide  over  peaceful 
waters  in  a  fairy  boat  drawn  by  graceful  swans. 
Without  suggestion  from  mother  or  teacher,  children 
put  life  and  personality  into  their  playthings.  Their 
spontaneous  delights  are  in  this  playful  exercise  of 
the  fancy,  in  masquerading  under  the  guise  of  a 
soldier,  bear,  horse,  or  bird.  The  fairy  tale  is  the 
poetry  of  children's  inner  impulse  and  feeling ;  their 
sparkling  eyes  and  absorbed  interest  show  how  fitting 
is  the  contact  between  these  childlike  creations  of  the 
poet  and  their  own  budding  thoughts. 

In  discussing  the  qualities  requisite  in  a  fairy  story 
to  make  it  a  pedagogical  treasure,  Wilmann  says  : 1 
"When  it  is  laid  down  as  a  first  and  indispensable 
requirement  that  a  story  be  genuinely  childlike,  the 
demand  sounds  less  rigorous  than  it  really  is.     It  is 

1  Wilmann,  Paedagogische  Vortrage. 


SO  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

easier  to  feel  than  to  describe  the  qualities  which  lend 
to  a  story  the  true  childlike  spirit.  It  is  not  sim- 
plicity alone.  A  simple  story  that  can  be  understood 
by  a  child  is  not  on  that  account  childlike.  The 
simplicity  must  be  the  ingenuousness  of  the  child. 
Close  to  this  lies  the  abyss  of  silliness  into  which 
so  many  children's  stories  tumble.  A  simple  story 
may  be  manufactured,  but  the  quality  of  true  sim- 
plicity will  not  be  breathed  into  it  unless  one  can  draw 
from  the  deeper  springs  of  poetic  invention.  It  is 
not  enough  that  the  externals  of  the  story,  such 
as  situation  and  action,  have  this  character,  but  the 
sensibilities  and  motives  of  the  actors  must  be  in- 
genuous and  childlike ;  they  should  reflect  the  child's 
own  feeling,  wish,  and  effort.  But  it  is  not  neces- 
sary on  this  account  that  the  persons  of  the  story  be 
children.  Indeed  the  king,  prince,  and  princess,  if 
they  only  speak  and  act  like  children,  are  much 
nearer  the  child's  comprehension  than  any  of  the 
children  paraded  in  a  manufactured  story,  designed 
for  the  'industrious  youth.'  For  just  as  real  poetry 
so  the  real  child's  story  lies  beyond  reality  in  the 
field  of  fancy.  With  all  its  plainness  of  thought  and 
action,  the  genuine  child's  story  knows  how  to  take 
hold  of  the  child's  fancy  and  set  its  wings  in  motion. 
And  what  a  meaning  has  fancy  for  the  soul  of  the 
child  as  compared  with  that  of  the  adult.  For  us 
the  activity  of  fancy  only  sketches  arabesques,  as 
it  were,  around  the  sharply  defined  pictures  of  reality. 


FIRST    GRADE   STORIES  5 1 

The  child  thinks  and  lives  in  such  arabesques,  and 
it  is  only  gradually  that  increasing  experience  writes 
among  these  arabesques  the  firmer  outlines  of  things. 
The  child's  thoughts  float  about  playfully  and  un- 
steadily, but  the  fairy  tale  is  even  lighter  winged 
than  they.  It  overtakes  these  fleeting  summer  birds 
and  wafts  them  together  without  brushing  the  dust 
from  their  wings. 

"  But  fostering  the  activity  of  fancy  in  children  is 
a  means,  not  an  end.  It  is  necessary  to  enter  the 
field  of  fancy  because  the  way  to  the  child's  heart 
leads  through  the  fancy.  The  effect  upon  the  heart 
of  the  child  is  the  second  mark  and  proof  of  the  genu- 
ine child's  story.  We  are  not  advocates  of  the  so- 
called  moral  stories  which  are  so  short-winded  as  to 
stop  frequently  and  rest  upon  some  moral  common- 
place. Platitudes  and  moral  maxims  are  not  de- 
signed to  develop  a  moral  taste  in  the  minds  of 
young  children,  for  they  appeal  to  the  understand- 
ing and  will  of  the  pupil  and  presuppose  what  must 
be  first  built  up  and  established.  True  moral  train- 
ing is  rather  calculated  to  awaken  in  the  child  judg- 
ments of  right  and  wrong,  of  good  and  evil  (on 
simple  illustrative  examples).  Not  the  impression 
left  by  a  moralizing  discourse  is  the  germ  of  a  love 
of  the  good  and  right,  but  rather  the  child's  judg- 
ment springing  from  its  own  conviction.  '  That  was 
good/     'What  a  mean  thing !' 

11  Those  narratives  have  a  moral  force  which  intro- 


52  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

duce  persons  and  acts  that  are  simple  and  trans« 
parent  enough  to  let  the  moral  light  shine  through, 
that  possess  sufficient  life  to  lend  warmth  and  vigor 
to  moral  judgments.  No  attempt  to  cover  up  or 
pass  over  what  is  bad,  nor  to  paint  it  in  extravagant 
colors.  For  the  bad  develops  the  judgment  no  less 
than  the  good.  It  remains  only  to  have  a  care  that 
a  child's  interest  inclines  toward  the  good,  the  just, 
and  the  right.' ' 

Wilmann  summarizes  the  essentials  of  a  good  story, 
and  then  discusses  the  fairy  tales  as  follows  :  — 

"  There  are  then  five  requirements  to  be  made  of 
a  real  child's  story  :  Let  it  be  truly  childlike,  that  is, 
both  simple  and  full  of  fancy;  let  it  form  morals 
in  the  sense  that  it  introduces  persons  and  matters 
which,  while  simple  and  lively,  call  out  a  moral  judg- 
ment of  approval  or  disapproval ;  let  it  be  instructive 
and  lead  to  thoughtful  discussions  of  society  and 
nature ;  let  it  be  of  permanent  value,  inviting  per- 
petually to  a  reperusal ;  let  it  be  a  connected  whole, 
so  as  to  work  a  deeper  influence  and  become  the 
source  of  a  many-sided  interest. 

"  The  child's  story  which,  on  the  basis  of  the  afore- 
named principles,  can  be  made  the  starting-point  for 
all  others,  is  Grimm's  fairy  tale  of  folk  lore.  We  are 
now  called  upon  to  show  that  the  folk-lore  fairy  tale 
answers  to  the  foregoing  requirements,  and  in  this 
we  shall  see  many  a  ray  of  light  cast  back  upon 
these  requirements  themselves. 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  S3 


Is  the  German  fairy  tale  childlike  ?  full  of  sim- 
plicity as  well  as  of  fancy  ?  A  deeply  poetic  saying 
of  Jacob  Grimm  may  teach  us  the  answer.  '  There 
runs  through  these  poetic  fairy  tales  the  same  deep 
vein  of  purity  by  reason  of  which  children  seem  to 
us  so  wonderful  and  blessed.  They  have,  as  it  were, 
the  same  pale-blue,  clear,  and  lustrous  eyes  which 
can  grow  no  more  although  the  other  members  are 
still  delicate  and  weak  and  unserviceable  to  the  uses 
of  earth.'  Klaiber  quotes  this  passage  in  his  '  Das 
Marchen  und  die  Kindliche  Phantasie,'  and  says 
with  truth  and  beauty,  '  Yes  ;  when  we  look  into  the 
trusting  eyes  of  a  child,  in  which  none  of  the  world's 
deceit  is  to  be  read  as  yet,  when  we  see  how  these 
eyes  brighten  and  gleam  at  a  beautiful  fairy  tale,  as 
if  they  were  looking  out  into  a  great,  wide,  beautiful 
wonder-world,  then  we  feel  something  of  the  deep 
connection  of  the  fairy  story  with  the  childish  soul.' 
We  will  bring  forward  one  more  passage  from  a  little 
treatise,  showing  depth  and  warmth  of  feeling,  which 
stealthily  takes  away  from  the  doubters  their  scruples 
about  the  justification  of  the  fairy  tale.  '  It  is  strange 
how  well  the  fairy  tale  and  the  child's  soul  mutually 
understand  each  other.  It  is  as  if  they  had  been 
together  from  the  very  beginning  and  had  grown  up 
together.  As  a  rule  the  child  only  deals  with  that 
part  of  real  life  which  concerns  itself  and  children  of 
its  age.  Whatever  lies  beyond  this  is  distant,  strange, 
unintelligible.     Under  the  leading  of  the  fairy  tale, 


54  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

however,  it  permits  itself  to  be  borne  over  hill  and 
valley,  over  land  and  sea,  through  sun  and  moon 
and  stars,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  every- 
thing is  so  near,  so  familiar,  so  close  to  its  reach,  as 
if  they  had  been  everywhere  before,  just  as  if  obscure 
pictures  within  had  all  at  once  become  wonderfully 
distinct.  And  the  fairies  all,  and  the  king's  sons, 
and  the  other  distinguished  personages,  whom  it 
learns  to  know  through  the  fairy  tale,  —  they  are  as 
natural  and  intelligible  as  if  the  child  had  moved  its 
life  long  in  the  highest  circles,  and  had  had  princes 
and  princesses  for  its  daily  playmates.  In  a  word, 
the  world  of  the  fairy  tale  is  the  child's  world,  for 
it  is  the  world  of  fancy/ 

"  For  this  reason  children  live  and  move  in  fairy- 
land, whether  the  story  be  told  by  the  mother  or  by 
the  teacher  in  the  primary  school.  What  attention 
as  the  story  proceeds !  What  anxiousness  when  any 
danger  threatens  the  hero,  be  he  king's  son  or  a 
wheat-straw !  What  grief,  even  to  tears,  when  a  wrong 
is  practised  upon  some  innocent  creature !  And  far 
from  it  that  the  joy  in  the  fairy  tale  decrease  when 
it  is  told  or  discussed  over  again.  Then  comes  the 
pleasure  of  representation  —  bringing  the  story  upon 
the  stage.  Though  a  child  has  but  to  represent  a 
flower  in  the  meadow,  the  little  face  is  transfigured 
with  the  highest  joy. 

"But  the  childish  joy  of  fairytales  passes  away; 
not  so  the  inner  experiences  which  it  has  brought 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  55 

with  it.  I  am  not  affirming  too  much  when  I  say- 
that  he  who,  as  a  child,  has  never  listened  with  joy 
to  the  murmuring  and  rustling  of  the  fresh  fountain 
of  fairyland,  will  have  no  ear  and  no  understanding 
for  many  a  deep  stream  of  German  poetry.  It  is, 
after  all,  the  modest  fountain  of  fairy  song  which, 
flowing  and  uniting  with  the  now  noisy,  now  soft  and 
gently  flowing,  current  of  folk  song,  and  with  the 
deep  and  earnest  stream  of  tradition,  which  has 
poured  such  a  refreshing  current  over  German  poetry, 
out  of  which  our  most  excellent  Uhland  has  drawn 
so  many  a  heart-strengthening  draught. 

"  The  spirit  of  the  people  finds  expression  in  fairy 
tale  as  in  tradition  and  song,  and  if  we  were  only 
working  to  lift  and  strengthen  the  national  impulse, 
a  moral-educative  instruction  would  have  to  turn 
again  and  again  to  these  creations  of  the  people. 
What  was  asserted  as  a  general  truth  in  regard  to 
classical  products,  that  they  are  a  bond  between  large 
and  small,  old  and  young,  is  true  of  national  stories 
and  songs  more  than  of  anything  else.  They  are  at 
once  a  bond  between  the  different  classes,  a  national 
treasure,  which  belongs  alike  to  rich  and  poor,  high 
and  low.  The  common  school  then  has  the  least  right 
of  all  to  put  the  fairy  tale  aside,  now  that  few  women 
versed  in  fairy  lore,  such  as  those  to  whom  Grimm 
listened,  are  left. 

"  But  does  the  fairy  tale  come  of  noble  blood  ? 
Does  it  possess  what  we  called  in  the  case  of  classics 


5^  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

an  old  title  of  nobility  ?  If  we  keep  to  this  figure  of 
speech,  we  shall  find  that  the  fairy  tale  is  not  only 
noble,  but  a  very  royal  child  among  stories.  It  has 
ruled  from  olden  times,  far  and  wide,  over  many  a 
land.  Hundreds  of  years  gone,  Grimm's  fairy  stories 
lived  in  the  people's  heart,  and  not  in  Germany  alone. 
If  our  little  ones  listen  intently  to  Aschenputtel, 
French  children  delighted  in  Cindrillon,  the  Italian 
in  Cenerentola,  the  Polish  in  Kopcinszic.  The  fact 
that  mediaeval  story-books  contain  Grimm's  tales  is 
not  remarkable,  when  we  reflect  that  traits  and  char- 
acteristics of  the  fairy  tale  reach  back  beyond  the 
Christian  period ;  that  Frau  Holle  is  Hulda,  or  Frigg, 
the  heathen  goddess ;  that  '  Wishing-cap,'  '  Little 
Lame-leg,'  and  *  Table,  Cover  Thyself,'  etc.,  are  made 
up  out  of  the  attributes  of  German  gods.  Finally, 
such  things  as  'The  Sleeping  Beauty,'  which  is  the 
earth  in  winter  sleep,  that  the  prince  of  summer 
wakes  with  kisses  in  springtime,  point  back  to  the 
period  of  primitive  Indo-German  myth. 

"But  in  addition  to  the  requirement  of  classical 
nobility,  has  the  fairy  story  also  the  moral  tone  which 
we  required  of  the  genuine  child's  story  ?  Does  the 
fairy  story  make  for  morals  ?  To  be  sure  it  intro- 
duces to  an  ideal  realm  of  simple  moral  relations. 
The  good  and  bad  are  sharply  separated.  The  wrong 
holds  for  a  time  its  supremacy,  but  the  final  victory 
is  with  the  good.  And  with  what  vigor  the  judgment 
of  good  and  evil,  of  right  and  wrong,  is  produced. 


FIRST   GRADE    STORIES  57 

le  meet  touching  pictures,  especially  of  good-will, 
:)f  faithfulness,  characteristic  and  full  of  life.  Think 
Dnly  of  the  typical  interchange  of  words  between 
^enchen  and  Fundevogel.  Said  Lenchen,  *  Leave 
le  not  and  I  will  never  leave  thee.'  Said  Funde- 
vogel, '  Now  and  nevermore/  We  are  reminded  of 
the  Bible  words  of  the  faithful  Ruth,  '  Whither  thou 
goest  I  will  go;  where  thou  lodgest  I  will  lodge; 
where  thou  diest  I  will  die  and  there  will  I  be 
buried/ 

"  Important  for  the  life  of  children  is  the  rigor  with 
which  the  fairy  tale  punishes  disobedience  and  false- 
hood. Think  of  the  suggestive  legendary  story  of 
the  child  which  was  visited  again  and  again  with  mis- 
fortune because  of  its  obstinacy,  till  its  final  confession 
of  guilt  brings  full  pardon.  It  is  everywhere  a  Chris- 
tian thread  which  runs  through  so  many  fairy  stories. 
It  is  love  for  the  rejected,  oppressed,  and  abandoned. 
Whatever  is  loaded  with  burdens  and  troubles  receives 
the  palm,  and  the  first  becomes  the  last. 

"  The  fairy  story  fulfils  the  first  three  require- 
ments for  a  true  child's  story.  It  is  childlike,  of 
lasting  value,  and  fosters  moral  ideas.  As  to  unity 
it  will  suffice  for  children  of  six  years  (for  this  is,  in 
our  opinion,  the  age  at  which  it  exerts  its  moral 
force)  that  the  stories  be  told  in  the  same  spirit, 
although  they  do  not  form  one  connected  narrative. 
If  a  good  selection  of  fairy  tales  according  to  their 
inner  connection  is  made,  so  that  frequent  references 


58  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

and   connections   can  be   found,  the  requirement  of 
unity  will  be  satisfied. 

"The  fairy  tale  seems  to  satisfy  least  of  all  the 
demand  that  the  true  child's  story  must  be  instruc- 
tive, and  serve  as  a  starting-point  for  interesting 
practical  discussion.  The  fairy  story  seems  too  airy 
and  dreamy  for  this,  and  it  might  appear  pedantry 
to  load  it  with  instruction.  But  one  will  not  be 
guilty  of  this  mistake  if  one  simply  follows  up  the 
ideas  which  the  story  suggests.  When  the  story  of 
a  chicken,  a  fox,  or  a  swan  is  told  it  is  fully  in  har- 
mony with  the  childish  thought  to  inquire  into  the 
habits  of  these  animals.  When  the  king  is  mentioned 
it  is  natural  to  say  that  we  have  a  king,  to  ask  where 
he  lives,  etc.  Just  because  the  fairy  tale  sinks  deep 
and  holds  a  firm  and  undivided  attention,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  direct  the  suggested  thoughts  hither  or 
thither  without  losing  the  pleasure  they  create. 
If  one  keeps  this  aim  in  mind,  instructive  material 
is  abundant.  The  fairy  tale  introduces  various  em- 
ployments and  callings,  from  the  king  to  the  farmer, 
tailor,  and  shoemaker.  Many  passages  in  life,  such 
as  betrothal,  marriage,  and  burial,  are  presented. 
Labors  in  the  house,  yard,  and  field,  and  numerous 
animals,  plants,  and  inanimate  things  are  touched 
upon.  For  the  observation  of  animals  and  for  the 
relation  between  them  and  children,  it  is  fortunate 
that  the  fairy  tale  presents  them  as  talking  and  feel- 
ing.     Thereby   the  interest  in   real   animals   is   in- 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  59 

creased  and  heartlessness  banished.  How  could  a 
child  put  to  the  torture  an  animal  which  is  an  old 
friend  in  fairy  story  ? 

11 1  need  only  suggest  in  this  place  how  the  fairy 
story  furnishes  material  for  exercises  in  oral  language, 
for  the  division  of  words  into  syllables  and  letters, 
and  how  the  beginnings  of  writing,  drawing,  number, 
and  manual  exercises  may  be  drawn  from  the  same 
source. 

"From  the  suggestions  just  made  the  following 
conclusions  at  least  may  be  reasonably  drawn.  A 
sufficient  counterpoise  to  the  fantastical  nature  of 
the  fairy  tale  can  be  given  in  a  manner  simple  and 
childlike,  if  the  objects  and  relations  involved  in  the 
narratives  are  brought  clearly  before  the  senses  and 
discussed  so  that  instruction  about  common  objects 
and  home  surroundings  is  begun.* ' 

In  speaking  of  Shakespeare's  early  training  in 
literature,  Charles  Kingsley  says  :  — 

"I  said  there  was  a  literary  art  before  Shake- 
speare—  an  art  more  simple,  more  childlike,  more 
girlish,  as  it  were,  and  therefore  all  the  more  adapted 
for  young  minds,  but  also  an  art  most  vigorous  and 
pure  in  point  of  style  :  thoroughly  fitted  to  give  its 
readers  the  first  elements  of  taste,  which  must  lie  at 
the  root  of  even  the  most  complex  aesthetics. 

"The  old  fairy  superstition,  the  old  legends  and 
ballads,  the  old  chronicles  of  feudal  war  and  chiv- 
alry, the  earlier  moralities  and  mysteries  and  tragi- 


60  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

comic  attempts  —  these  were  the  roots  of  his  poetic 
tree  —  they  must  be  the  roots  of  any  literary  educa- 
tion which  can  teach  us  to  appreciate  him.  These 
fed  Shakespeare's  youth ;  why  should  they  not  feed 
our  children's  ?  Why  indeed  ?  That  inborn  delight 
of  the  young  in  all  that  is  marvellous  and  fantastic  — 
has  that  a  merely  evil  root  ?  No  surely !  It  is  a 
most  pure  part  of  their  spiritual  nature;  a  part  of 
1  the  heaven  which  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy ' ; 
angel-wings  with  which  the  free  child  leaps  the 
prison-walls  of  sense  and  custom,  and  the  drudgery 
of  earthly  life." 

Felix  Adler  says : 2  "  But  how  shall  we  handle 
these  Mdrchen  and  what  method  shall  we  employ 
in  putting  them  to  account  for  our  special  purpose  ? 
I  have  a  few  thoughts  on  this  subject,  which  I  shall 
venture  to  submit  in  the  form  of  counsels. 

"  My  first  counsel  is  :  Tell  the  story  ;  do  not  give  it 
to  the  child  to  read.  There  is  an  obvious  practical 
reason  for  this.  Children  are  able  to  benefit  by 
hearing  fairy  tales  before  they  can  read.  But  that 
is  not  the  only  reason.  It  is  the  childhood  of  the 
race,  as  we  have  seen,  that  speaks  in  the  fairy  story 
of  the  child  of  to-day.  It  is  the  voice  of  an  ancient 
far-off  past  that  echoes  from  the  lips  of  the  story- 
teller. The  words  *  once  upon  a  time '  open  up  a 
vague  retrospect  into  the  past,  and  the  child  gets 
its  first  indistinct  notions  of  history  in  this  way.     The 

1  Moral  Instruction  of  Children.     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


FIRST    GRADE   STORIES  6 1 

stories  embody  the  tradition  of  the  childhood  of  man- 
kind. They  have  on  this  account  an  authority  all 
their  own,  not,  indeed,  that  of  literal  truth,  but  one 
derived  from  their  being  types  of  certain  feelings 
and  longings  which  belong  to  childhood  as  such. 
The  child,  as  it  listens  to  the  Marchen>  looks  up  with 
wide-opened  eyes  to  the  face  of  the  person  who  tells 
the  story,  and  thrills  responsive  as  the  touch  of  the 
earlier  life  of  the  race  thus  falls  upon  its  own.  Such  an 
effect,  of  course,  cannot  be  produced  by  cold  type. 
Tradition  is  a  living  thing  and  should  use  the  living 
voice  for  its  vehicle. 

"  My  second  counsel  is  also  of  a  practical  nature, 
and  I  make  bold  to  say  quite  essential  to  the  suc- 
cessful use  of  the  stories.  Do  not  take  the  moral 
plum  out  of  the  fairy-tale  pudding,  but  let  the  child 
enjoy  it  as  a  whole.  Do  not  make  the  story  taper 
toward  a  single  point,  the  .  moral  point.  You  will 
squeeze  all  the  juice  out  of  it  if  you  try.  Do  not 
subordinate  the  purely  fanciful  and  naturalistic  ele- 
ments of  the  story,  such  as  the  love  of  mystery,  the 
passion  for  roving,  the  sense  of  fellowship  with  the 
animal  world,  in  order  to  fix  attention  solely  on 
the  moral  element.  On  the  contrary,  you  will  gain 
the  best  moral  effect  by  proceeding  in  exactly  the 
opposite  way.  Treat  the  moral  element  as  an  in- 
cident, emphasize  it  indeed,  but  incidentally.  Pluck 
it  as  a  wayside  flower.  How  often  does  it  happen 
that,   having  set  out  on  a  journey  with  a  distinct 


62  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

object  in  mind,  something  occurs  on  the  way  which 
we  had  not  foreseen,  but  which  in  the  end  leaves  the 
deepest  impression  on  the  mind.  .  .  . 

"The  value  of  the  fairy  tales  is  that  they  stimu- 
late the  imagination;  that  they  reflect  the  unbroken 
communion  of  human  life  with  the  life  universal,  as 
in  beasts,  fishes,  trees,  flowers,  and  stars;  and  that 
incidentally,  but  all  the  more  powerfully  on  that  ac- 
count, they  quicken  the  moral  sentiments. 

"  Let  us  avail  ourselves  freely  of  the  treasures 
which  are  thus  placed  at  our  disposal.  Let  us  wel- 
come das  Mdrchen  into  our  primary  course  of  moral 
training,  that  with  its  gentle  bands,  woven  of  '  morn- 
ing mist  and  morning  glory/  it  may  help  to  lead  our 
children  into  bright  realms  of  the  ideal." 

A  selection  of  fairy  stories  suited  to  our  first  grade 
will  differ  from  a  similar  selection  for  foreign  schools. 
There  has  been  a  disposition  among  American 
teachers  for  several  years  to  appropriate  the  best 
of  these  stories  for  use  in  the  primary  schools.  In 
different  parts  of  the  country  skilful  primary  teachers 
have  been  experimenting  successfully  with  these 
materials.  There  are  many  schools  in  which  both 
teachers  and  pupils  have  taken  great  delight  in  them. 
The  effort  has  been  made  more  particularly  with  first 
grade  children,  the  aim  of  teachers  being  to  lead  cap- 
tive the  spontaneous  interest  of  children  from  their  first 
entrance  upon  school  tasks.  Some  of  the  stories  used 
at  the  first  may  seem  light  and  farcical,  but  experi- 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  63 

merits  with  children  are  a  better  test  than  the  precon- 
ceived notions  of  adults  who  may  have  forgotten  their 
early  childhood.  The  story  of  the  "  Four  Musicians," 
for  example,  is  a  favorite  with  the  children. 

At  the  risk  of  repetition,  and  to  emphasize  some 
points  of  special  importance,  we  will  review  briefly 
the  method  of  oral  treatment  and  the  use  of  the 
stories  in  early  primary  reading. 

The  children  have  no  knowledge  of  reading  or  per- 
haps of  letters.  The  story  is  told  with  spirit  by  the 
teacher,  no  book  being  used  in  the  class.  Question 
and  interchange  of  thought  between  pupil  and  teacher 
will  become  more  frequent  and  suggestive  as  the 
teacher  becomes  more  skilled  and  sympathetic  in  her 
treatment  of  the  story.  In  the  early  months  of  school 
life  the  aim  is  to  gain  the  attention  and  cooperation 
of  children  by  furnishing  abundant  food  for  thought. 
Children  are  required  or  at  least  encouraged  to  narrate 
the  story  or  a  part  of  it  in  the  class.  They  tell  it  at 
school  and  probably  at  home,  till  they  become  more 
and  more  absorbed  in  it.  Even  the  backward  or 
timid  child  gradually  acquires  courage  and  enjoys 
narrating  the  adventures  of  the  peas  in  the  pod  or 
those  of  the  animals  in  the  "Four  Musicians." 

The  teacher  should  acquire  a  vivid  and  picturesque 
style  of  narrating,  persistently  weaving  into  the  story, 
by  query  and  suggestion,  the  previous  home  experi- 
ences of  the  children.  They  are  only  too  ready  to 
bring  out  these  treasures  at  the  call  of  the  teacher. 


64  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Often  it  is  necessary  to  check  their  enthusiasm. 
There  is  a  need  not  simply  for  narrative  power,  but 
for  quick  insight  and  judgment,  so  as  to  bring  their 
thoughts  into  close  relation  to  the  incidents.  No- 
where in  all  the  schools  is  there  such  a  call  for  close 
and  motherly  sympathy.  The  gentle  compulsion  of 
kindness  is  required  to  inspire  the  timid  ones  with 
confidence.  For  some  of  them  are  slow  to  open  their 
delicate  thought  and  sensibility,  even  to  the  sunny 
atmosphere  of  a  pleasant  school. 

A  certain  amount  of  drill  in  reproduction  is  neces- 
sary, but  fortunately  the  stories  have  something  that 
bears  repetition  with  a  growing  interest.  Added  to 
this  is  the  desire  for  perfect  mastery,  and  thus  the 
stories  become  more  dear  with  familiarity. 

Incidentally,  there  should  be  emphasis  of  the  in- 
structive information  gathered  concerning  animals 
and  plants  that  are  actors  in  the  scenes.  The  com- 
monest things  of  the  house,  field,  and  garden  acquire 
a  new  and  lasting  interest.  Sometimes  the  teacher 
makes  provision  in  advance  of  the  story  for  a  deeper 
interest  in  the  plants  and  animals  that  are  to  appear. 
In  natural  science  lessons  she  may  take  occasion  to 
examine  the  pea  blossom,  or  the  animals  of  the  barn- 
yard, or  the  squirrel  or  birds  in  their  cages.  When, 
a  few  days  later,  the  story  touches  one  of  these  ani- 
mals, there  is  a  quick  response  from  the  children. 
This  relation  between  history  and  natural  science 
strengthens  both. 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  6$ 

Many  an  opportunity  should  be  given  for  the  pupils 
to  express  a  warm  sympathy  for  gentle  acts  of  kind- 
ness or  unselfishness.  The  happiness  that  even  a 
simple  flower  may  bring  to  a  home  is  a  contagious 
example.  Kindly,  treatment  of  the  old  and  feeble, 
and  sympathy  for  the  innocent  and  helpless,  spring 
into  the  child's  own  thought.  The  fancy,  sympathy, 
and  interest  awakened  by  a  good  fairy  tale  make  it 
a  vehicle  by  which,  consciously  and  unconsciously, 
many  advantages  are  borne  home  to  pupils. 

Among  other  things,  it  opens  the  door  to  the  read- 
ing lesson ;  that  is,  to  the  beginning  efforts  in  master- 
ing and  using  the  symbols  of  written  language.  The 
same  story  which  all  have  learned  to  tell,  they  are 
now  about  to  learn  to  read  from  the  board.  One  or 
two  sentences  are  taken  directly  from  the  lips  of  the 
pupils  as  they  recall  the  story,  and  the  work  of  mas- 
tering symbols  is  begun  at  once  with  zest.  First  is 
the  clear  statement  of  some  vivid  thought  by  a  child, 
then  a  quick  association  of  this  thought  with  its  writ- 
ten symbols  on  the  board.  There  is  no  readier  way 
of  bringing  thought  and  form  into  firm  connection, 
that  is,  of  learning  to  read.  Keep  the  child's  fresh 
mental  judgment  and  the  written  form  clearly  before 
his  mind  till  the  two  are  wedded.  Let  the  thought 
run  back  and  forth  between  them  till  they  are  one. 

After  fixing  two  or  three  sentences  on  the  board, 
attention  is  directed  more  closely  to  the  single  words, 
and  a  rapid  drill  upon  those  in  the  sentence  is  fol- 


66  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

lowed  by  a  discovery  and  naming  of  them  in  miscel- 
laneous order.  Afterward  new  sentences  are  formed 
by  the  teacher  out  of  the  same  words,  written  on  the 
board,  and  read  by  the  children.  They  express  dif- 
ferent, and  perhaps  opposite  forms  of  thought,  and 
should  exercise  the  child's  sense  and  judgment  as 
well  as  his  memory  of  words.  An  energetic,  lively, 
and  successful  drill  of  this  kind  upon  sentences  drawn 
from  stories  has  been  so  often  witnessed,  that  its 
excellence  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  question.  These 
exercises  are  a  form  of  mental  activity  in  which  chil- 
dren delight  if  the  teacher's  manner  is  vigorous  and 
pleasant. 

When  the  mastery  of  new  word-forms  as  wholes  is 
fairly  complete,  the  analysis  may  go  a  step  farther. 
Some  new  word  in  the  lesson  may  be  taken  and  sepa- 
rated into  its  phonic  elements,  as  the  word  kill,  and 
new  words  formed  by  dropping  a  letter  and  prefixing 
letters  or  syllables,  as  ill,  till,  until,  mill,  rill,  etc.  The 
power  to  construct  new  words  out  of  old  materials 
should  be  cultivated  all  along  the  process  of  learning 
to  read. 

Still  other  school  activities  of  children  stand  in 
close  relation  to  the  fairy  tales.  They  are  encour- 
aged to  draw  the  objects  and  incidents  in  which 
the  story  abounds.  Though  rude  and  uncouth,  the 
drawings  still  often  surprise  us  with  their  truth  and 
suggestiveness.  The  sketches  reveal  the  content  of 
a  child's  mind  as  almost  nothing  else  —  his  miscon- 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  67 

ceptions,  his  vague  or  clearly  defined  notions.  They 
also  furnish  his  mental  and  physical  activities  an 
employment  exactly  suited  to  his  needs  and  wishes. 
The  power  to  use  good  English  and  to  express 
himself  clearly  and  fittingly  is  cultivated  from  the 
very  first.  While  this  merit  is  purely  incidental,  it 
is  none  the  less  valuable.  The  persistence  with 
which  bad  and  uncouth  words  and  phrases  are 
employed  by  children  in  our  common  school,  both  in 
oral  work  and  in  composition,  admonishes  us  to  begin 
early  to  eradicate  these  faults.  It  seems  often  as  if 
intermediate  and  grammar  grades  were  more  faulty 
and  wretched  in  their  use  of  English  than  primary 
grades.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  early  and 
persistent  practice  in  the  best  forms  of  expression, 
especially  in  connection  with  interesting  and  appro- 
priate thought  matter,  will  greatly  aid  correctness, 
fluency,  and  confidence  in  speech.  There  is  also 
a  convincing  pedagogical  reason  why  children  in  the 
first  primary  should  be  held  to  the  best  models  of 
spoken  language.  They  enter  the  school  better  fur- 
nished with  oral  speech  than  with  a  knowledge  of 
any  school  study.  Their  home  experiences  have 
wrought  into  close  association  and  unity,  word  and 
thing.  So  intimate  and  living  is  the  relation  between 
word  and  thought  or  object,  that  a  child  really  does 
not  distinguish  between  them.  This  is  the  treasure 
with  which  he  enters  school,  and  it  should  not  be 
wrapped  up  in  a  napkin.     It  should  be  unrolled  at 


68  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

once  and  put  to  service.  Oral  speech  is  the  capital 
with  which  a  child  enters  the  business  of  education ; 
let  him  employ  it. 

A  retrospect  upon  the  various  forms  of  school  activ- 
ity which  spring,  in  practical  work,  from  the  use  of 
a  good  fairy  story,  reveals  how  many-sided  and 
inspiriting  are  its  influences.  Starting  out  with  a 
rich  content  of  thought  peculiarly  germane  to  child- 
ish interests,  it  calls  for  a  full  employment  of  the  lan- 
guage resources  already  possessed  by  the  children. 
In  the  effort  to  picture  out,  with  pencil  or  chalk,  his 
conceptions  of  the  story,  a  child  exercises  his  fanciful 
and  creative  wit,  as  well  as  the  muscles  of  arms  and 
eyes.  A  good  story  always  finds  its  setting  in  the 
midst  of  nature  or  society,  and  touches  up  with  a 
simple,  homely,  but  poetic  charm  the  commonest 
verities  of  human  experience.  The  appeal  to  the 
sensibility  and  moral  judgment  of  pupils  is  direct  and 
spontaneous,  because  of  the  interests  and  sympathies 
that  are  inherent  in  persons,  and  touch  directly  the 
childish  fancy.  And,  lastly,  the  irrepressible  tradi- 
tional demand  that  children  shall  learn  to  read,  is 
fairly  and  honestly  met  and  satisfied. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  fairy  tales  involve  the  sum 
total  of  primary  instruction,  but  they  are  an  illustra- 
tion of  how  rich  will  be  the  fruitage  of  our  educa- 
tional effort  if  we  consider  first  the  highest  needs  and 
interests  of  children,  and  allow  the  formal  arts  to 
drop  into  their  proper  subordination.     "  The  best  is 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  69 

good  enough  for  children,' '  and  when  we  select  the 
best,  the  wide-reaching  connections  which  are  estab- 
lished between  studies  carry  us  a  long  step  toward 
the  now  much-bruited  correlation  and  concentration 
of  studies. 


BOOKS   OF  MATERIALS   FOR  TEACHERS 

Classic  Stories  for  the  Little  Ones.     Public  School  Publishing 

Co.,  Bloomington,  111. 
Grimm's  Fairy  Tales  (Wiltse).     Ginn  &  Co. 
German  Fairy  Tales  (Grimm).    Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Grimm's  German  Household  Tales.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Stories  from  Hans  Andersen.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Andersen's  Fairy  Tales,  two  volumes,  Part  I  and  Part  II.     Ginn 

&  Co. 
Fairy  Stories  and  Fables.     American  Book  Co. 
Fables  and  Folk  Stories  (Scudder).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Rhymes  and  Jingles  (Dodge).     Scribner's  Sons. 
Fairy  Stories  for  Children  (Baldwin).     American  Book  Co. 
Songs  and  Stories.     University  Publishing  Co. 
Fairy  Life.     University  Publishing  Co. 
Six  Nursery  Classics  (O'Shea).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Grimm's  Fairy  Tales.     Educational  Publishing  Co. 
A  Book  of  Nursery  Rhymes  (Welch).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Verse  and  Prose  for  Beginners  in  Reading.     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Heart  of  Oak,  No.  I.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Heart  of  Oak,  No.  II.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
The  Eugene  Field  Book.     Scribner's  Sons. 
Moral  Education   of  Children    (Adler).      D.    Appleton  &  Co. 

Chapter  VI.  on  Fairy  Tales. 
Literature  in   Schools   (Scudder).      Houghton,   Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Chapter  on  Nursery  Classics. 


70  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

THE   FABLES 

No  group  of  stories  has  a  more  assured  place  in 
the  literature  for  children  than  the  iEsop's  "  Fables." 
Some  of  the  commonest  have  been  expanded  into 
little  stories  which  are  presented  orally  to  children  in 
the  first  school  year,  as  "  The  Lion  and  the  Mouse," 
"  The  Ants  and  the  Grasshoppers,"  "  The  Dog  and  his 
Shadow,"  and  others.  They  are  so  simple  and  direct 
that  they  are  used  alongside  the  fairy  tales  for  the 
earliest  instruction  of  children. 

As  soon  as  children  have  acquired  the  rudiments  of 
reading  the  ^Esop's  "  Fables  "  are  commonly  used  in 
the  second  and  third  school  year  as  a  reading  book, 
and  all  the  early  reading  books  are  partly  made  up 
from  this  material. 

If  we  inquire  into  the  qualities  of  these  stories 
which  have  given  them  such  a  universal  acceptance, 
we  shall  find  that  they  contain  in  a  simple,  transparent 
form  a  good  share  of  the  world's  wisdom.  More 
recent  researches  indicate  that  they  originated  in 
India,  and  reached  Europe  through  Persia  and  Arabia, 
being  ascribed  to  ^Esop.  This  indicates  that  like 
most  early  literature  of  lasting  worth,  they  are  prod- 
ucts of  the  folk-mind  rather  than  of  a  single  writer, 
and  it  is  the  opinion  of  Adler  that  they  express  the 
ripened  wisdom  of  the  people  under  the  forms  of 
Oriental  despotism.  The  sad  and  hopeless  submis- 
sion to  a  stronger  power  expressed  by  some  of  the 


FIRST    GRADE    STORIES  7 1 

fables,  it  is  claimed,  unfits  them  for  use  in  our  freer 
life  to-day. 

There  are  certain  points  in  which  their  attractive- 
ness to  children  is  clearly  manifest.  The  actors  in 
the  stories  are  usually  animals,  and  the  ready  inter- 
est and  sympathy  of  children  for  talking  animals 
are  at  once  appealed  to.  In  all  the  early  myths 
and  fairy  tales,  human  life  seems  to  merge  into  that 
of  the  animals,  as  in  "  Hiawatha,"  and  the  fables 
likewise  are  a  marked  expression  of  this  childlike 
tendency. 

Adler  says :  "  The  question  may  be  asked  why 
fables  are  so  popular  with  boys.  I  should  say  be- 
cause schoolboy  society  reproduces  in  miniature,  to 
a  certain  extent,  the  social  conditions  which  are  re- 
flected in  the  fables.  Among  unregenerate  school- 
boys there  often  exists  a  kind  of  despotism,  not  the 
.  less  degrading  because  petty.  The  strong  are  pitted 
against  the  weak  —  witness  the  fagging  system  in 
English  schools  —  and  their  mutual  antagonism  pro- 
duces in  both  the  characteristic  vices  which  we  have 
noted  above."  A  literature  which  clearly  pictures 
these  relations  so  that  they  can  be  seen  objectively 
by  the  children  may  be  of  the  greatest  social  service 
in  education. 

Adler  says  further:  "The  psychological  study  of 
schoolboy  society  has  been  only  begun,  but  even  what 
lies  on  the  surface  will,  I  think,  bear  out  this  remark. 
Now  it  has  become   one  of  the   commonplaces  of 


72  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

educational  literature  that  the  individual  of  to-day 
must  pass  through  the  same  stages  of  evolution  as 
the  human  race  as  a  whole.  But  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  advance  of  civilization  depends  on 
two  conditions :  first,  that  the  course  of  evolution  be 
accelerated,  that  the  time  allowed  to  the  successive 
stages  be  shortened  ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  unworthy 
and  degrading  elements  which  entered  into  the  pro- 
cess of  evolution  in  the  past,  and  at  the  time  were 
inseparable  from  it,  be  now  eliminated.  Thus  the 
fairy  tales  which  correspond  to  the  myth-making 
epoch  in  human  history  must  be  purged  of  the  dross 
of  superstition  which  still  adheres  to  them,  and  the 
fables  which  correspond  to  the  age  of  primitive 
despotisms  must  be  cleansed  of  the  immoral  elements 
they  still  embody/ * 1 

The  peculiar  form  of  moral  teaching  in  the  "  Fables  " 
suits  them  especially  to  children.  A  single  trait  of 
conduct,  like  greediness  or  selfishness,  is  sharply 
outlined  in  the  story  and  its  results  made  plain.  "  We 
have  seen  nothing  finer  in  teaching  than  the  building 
up  of  these  little  stories  in  conversational  lessons  — 
first  to  illustrate  some  mental  or  moral  trait ;  then  to 
detach  the  idea  from  its  story  picture,  and  find  illus- 
trations for  it  in  some  other  act  or  incident.  And 
nothing  can  be  more  gratifying  as  a  result,  than, 
through  the  transparency  of  childish  hearts,  to  watch 
the  growth  of  right  conduct  from  the  impulses  derived 

1  Adler,  Moral  Instruction  of  Children,  pp.  88-89. 


FIRST   GRADE    STORIES  73 

from  the  teaching ;  and  so  laying  the  foundations  of 
future  Tightness  of  character."  * 

The  moral  ideas  inculcated  by  the  fables  are  usually 
of  a  practical,  worldly-wisdom  sort,  not  high  ideals  of 
moral  quality,  not  virtue  for  its  own  sake,  but  varied 
examples  of  the  results  of  rashness  and  folly.  This 
is,  perhaps,  one  reason  why  they  are  so  well  suited 
to  the  immature  moral  judgments  of  children. 

Adler  says :  "  Often  when  a  child  has  committed 
some  fault,  it  is  useful  to  refer  by  name  to  the  fable 
that  fits  it.  As,  when  a  boy  has  made  room  in  his 
seat  for  another,  and  the  other  crowds  him  out,  the 
mere  mention  of  the  fable  of  the  porcupine  is  a 
telling  rebuke;  or  the  fable  of  the  hawk  and  the 
pigeons  may  be  called  to  mind  when  a  boy  has 
been  guilty  of  mean  excuses.  On  the  same  principle 
that  angry  children  are  sometimes  taken  before  a 
mirror  to  show  them  how  ugly  they  look,  the  fable 
is  a  kind  of  mirror  for  the  vices  of  the  young." 
Again :  "  The  peculiar  value  of  the  fables  is  that 
they  are  instantaneous  photographs  which  repro- 
duce, as  it  were,  in  a  single  flash  of  light,  some  one 
aspect  of  human  nature,  and  which,  excluding  every- 
thing else,  permit  the  attention  to  be  entirely  fixed 
on  that  one." 

But  the  value  of  the  fable  reaches  far  beyond 
childhood.  The  frequency  with  which  it  is  cited  in 
nearly  all   the   forms  of   literature,  and  its   aptness 

1  Introduction  to  Stickney's  ALsops  Fables,    Ginn  &  Co. 


74  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

to  express  the  real  meaning  of  many  episodes  in 
real  life,  in  politics  and  social  events,  in  peace  and 
war,  show  the  universality  of  the  truth  it  embodies. 
A  story  which  engraves  a  truth,  as  it  were  with  a 
diamond  point,  upon  a  child's  mind,  a  truth  which 
will  swiftly  interpret  many  events  in  his  later  life, 
deserves  to  take  a  high  place  among  educative  in- 
fluences. 

FABLES   AND   NATURE   MYTHS 

Scudder's  Fables  and  Folk  Stories.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
^Esop's  Fables  (Stickney).     Ginn  &  Co. 
Book  of  Legends  (Scudder).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Stories  for  Children  (Lane).     The  American  Book  Co. 
A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses  (Stevenson).     Scribner's  Sons, 
^sop's  Fables.     Educational  Publishing  Co. 
The  Book  of  Nature  Myths  (Holbrook).    Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
The  Moral  Instruction  of  Children  (Adler),  Chapters  VII  and 
VIII.    D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Second  Grade  Stories 

"  robinson  crusoe  " 

In  selecting  suitable  literature  for  children  of  the 
second  grade,  we  follow  in  the  steps  of  a  number 
of  distinguished  writers  and  teachers  and  choose  an 
English  classic — "  Robinson  Crusoe."  Rousseau  gave 
this  book  his  unqualified  approval,  and  said  that  it 
would  be  the  first,  and,  for  a  time,  the  only  book 
that  Emile  should  read.  The  Herbartians  have  been 
using  it  a  number  of  years,  while  many  American 
teachers  have  employed  it  for  oral  work  in  second 
grade,  in  a  short  school  edition.  In  one  sense,  the 
book  needs  no  introduction,  as  it  has  found  its  way 
into  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  world.  Originally 
a  story  for  adults,  it  has  reached  all,  and  illustrated 
Christmas  editions,  designed  even  for  children  from 
three  years  and  upward,  are  abundant.  To  the 
youth  of  all  lands,  it  has  been,  to  say  the  least,  a 
source  of  delight,  but  it  has  been  regarded  as  a 
book  for  the  family  and  home.  What  would  hap- 
pen should  the  schoolmaster  lay  his  hand  on  this 
treasure  and  desecrate  it  to  school  purposes !     We 

75 


76  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

desire  to  test  this  classic  work  on  the  side  of  its 
pedagogical  value  and  its  adaptation  to  the  uses  of 
regular  instruction.  If  it  is  really  unrivalled  as  a 
piece  of  children's  literature,  perhaps  it  has  also 
no  equal  for  school  purposes. 

In  making  the  transition  from  the  fairy  tale  to 
"  Robinson  Crusoe,"  an  interesting  difference  or  con- 
trast may  be  noticed.  Wilmann  says : 1  "  '  Crusoe '  is 
at  once  simple,  and  plain,  and  fanciful;  to  be  sure, 
in  the  latter  case,  entirely  different  from  the  fairy 
tale.  In  the  fairy  story  the  fancy  seldom  pushes 
rudely  against  the  boundaries  of  the  real  world. 
But  otherwise  in  '  Crusoe/  Here  it  is  the  practical 
fancy  that  is  aroused,  if  this  expression  appear  not 
contradictory.  What  is  Crusoe  to  do  now  ?  How  can 
he  help  himself  ?  What  means  can  he  invent  ?  Many 
of  the  proposals  of  the  children  will  have  to  be  re- 
jected. The  inexorable  'not  possible*  shoves  a  bolt 
before  the  door.  The  imagination  is  compelled  to 
limit  itself  to  the  task  of  combining  and  adjusting 
real  things.  The  compulsion  of  things  conditions 
the  progress  of  the  story.  '  Thoughts  dwell  together 
easily,  but  things  jostle  each  other  roughly  in  space.'" 

There  are  other  striking  differences  between  "  Cru- 
soe "  and  the  folk-lore  stories,  but  in  this  contrast  we 
are  now  chiefly  concerned.  After  reaching  the  island, 
he  is  checked  and  limited  at  every  step  by  the  physi- 
cal laws  imposed  by  nature.     Struggle  and  fret  as 

1  Wilmann,  Paedagogische  Vortrage. 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  J? 


he  may  against  these  limits,  he  becomes  at  last  a 
philosopher,  and  quietly  takes  up  the  struggle  for 
existence  under  those  inexorable  conditions.  The 
child  of  seven  or  eight  is  vaguely  acquainted  with 
many  of  the  simple  employments  of  the  household 
and  of  the  neighborhood.  Crusoe  also  had  a  vague 
memory  of  how  people  in  society  in  different  trades 
and  occupations  supply  the  necessaries  and  com- 
forts of  life.  Even  the  fairy  stories  give  many  hints 
of  this  kind  of  knowledge,  but  Robinson  Crusoe  is 
face  to  face  with  the  sour  facts.  He  is  cut  off  from 
help  and  left  to  his  own  resources.  The  interest  in 
the  story  is  in  seeing  how  he  will  shift  for  himself 
and  exercise  his  wits  to  insure  plenty  and  comfort. 
With  few  tools  and  on  a  barbarous  coast,  he  under- 
takes what  men  in  society,  by  mutual  exchange  and 
by  division  of  labor,  have  much  difficulty  in  perform- 
ing. Crusoe  becomes  a  carpenter,  a  baker  and  cook, 
a  hunter,  a  potter,  a  fisher,  a  farmer,  a  tailor,  a  boat- 
man, a  stock-raiser,  a  basket-maker,  a  shoemaker,  a 
tanner,  a  fruit-grower,  a  mason,  a  physician.  And 
not  only  so,  but  he  grapples  with  the  difficulties  of 
each  trade  or  occupation  in  a  bungling  manner  be- 
cause of  inexperience  and  lack  of  skill  and  exact 
knowledge.  He  is  an  experimenter  and  tester 
along  many  lines.  The  entire  absence  of  helpers 
centres  the  whole  interest  of  this  varied  struggle  in 
one  person.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Crusoe  is 
no  genius,  but  the  ordinary  boy  or  man.     He  has 


78  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

abundant  variety  of  needs  such  as  a  child  reared 
under  civilized  conditions  has  learned  to  feel.  The 
whole  range  of  activities,  usually  distributed  to  various 
classes  and  persons  in  society,  rests  now  upon  his 
single  shoulders.  If  he  were  an  expert  in  all  direc- 
tions, the  task  would  be  easier,  but  he  has  only  vague 
knowledge  and  scarcely  any  skill.  The  child,  there- 
fore, who  reads  this  story,  by  reason  of  the  slow, 
toilsome,  and  bungling  processes  of  Crusoe  in  meet- 
ing his  needs,  becomes  aware  how  difficult  and  labo- 
rious are  the  efforts  by  which  the  simple,  common 
needs  of  all  children  are  supplied. 

A  reference  to  the  different  trades  and  callings 
that  Crusoe  assumes  will  show  us  that  he  is  not  deal- 
ing with  rare  and  unusual  events,  but  with  the  com- 
mon, simple  employments  that  lie  at  the  basis  of 
society  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  carpenter,  the 
baker,  the  farmer,  the  shoemaker,  etc.,  are  at  work  in 
every  village  in  every  land.  Doubtless  this  is  one 
reason  why  the  story  acquires  such  a  hold  in  the 
most  diverse  countries.  The  Arab  or  the  Chinese 
boy,  the  German  or  American  child,  finds  the  story 
touching  the  ordinary  facts  of  his  own  surroundings. 
Though  the  story  finds  its  setting  in  a  far-away, 
lonely  island  in  tropical  seas,  Crusoe  is  daily  trying 
to  create  the  objects  and  conditions  of  his  old  home 
in  England.  But  these  are  the  same  objects  that 
surround  every  child  ;  and  therefore,  in  reading  "  Rob- 
inson Crusoe,"  the  pupil  is  making  an  exhaustive  and 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  79 

interesting  study  of  his  own  home.  The  presence  of 
a  tropical  vegetation  and  of  a  strange  climate  does 
not  seriously  impair  this  fact.  The  skill  of  a  great 
literary  artist  appears  in  his  power  to  create  a  situa- 
tion almost  devoid  of  common  comforts  and  bless- 
ings and  then  in  setting  his  hero  to  work  to  create 
them  by  single-handed  effort. 

It  will  hardly  be  questioned  that  the  study  of  the 
home  and  home  neighborhood  by  children  is  one  of 
the  large  and  prominent  problems  in  education.  Out 
of  their  social,  economic,  and  physical  environment 
children  get  the  most  important  lessons  of  life.  Not 
only  does  the  home  furnish  a  varied  fund  of  informa- 
tion that  enables  them  to  interpret  books,  and  people, 
and  institutions,  as  they  sooner  or  later  go  out  into 
the  world,  but  all  the  facts  gathered  by  experience 
and  reading  in  distant  fields  must  flow  back  again  to 
give  deeper  meaning  to  the  labors  and  duties  which 
surround  each  citizen  in  his  own  home.  But  society 
with  its  commerce,  education,  and  industries,  is  an 
exceedingly  complex  affair.  The  child  knows  not 
where  to  begin  to  unravel  this  endless  machinery  of 
forms  and  institutions.  In  a  sense  he  must  get  away 
from  or  disentangle  himself  from  his  surroundings  in 
order  to  understand  them.  There  are  no  complex 
conditions  surrounding  Crusoe,  and  he  takes  up  the 
labors  of  the  common  trades  in  a  simple  and  primi- 
tive manner.  Physical  and  mental  effort  are  de- 
manded  at  every  step,  from   Crusoe   and   from   the 


80  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

children.  Many  of  his  efforts  involve  repeated  fail- 
ure, as  in  making  pottery,  in  building  a  boat,  while 
some  things  that  he  undertakes  with  painful  toil 
never  attain  success.  The  lesson  of  toil  and  hard- 
ship connected  with  the  simple  industries  is  one  of 
great  moment  to  children.  Our  whole  social  fabric 
is  based  on  these  toils,  and  it  is  one  of  the  best 
results  of  a  sound  education  to  realize  the  place  and 
importance  of  hard  work. 

It  scarcely  needs  to  be  pointed  out  that  Crusoe 
typifies  a  long  period  of  man's  early  history,  the  age 
when  men  were  learning  the  rudiments  of  civilization 
by  taking  up  the  toils  of  the  blacksmith,  the  agri- 
culturist, the  builder,  the  domesticator  of  animals  and 
plants.  Men  emerged  from  barbarism  as  they  slowly 
and  painfully  gained  the  mastery  over  the  resources 
of  nature.  Crusoe  is  a  sort  of  universal  man,  em- 
bodying in  his  single  effort  that  upward  movement 
of  men  which  has  steadily  carried  them  to  the  higher 
levels  of  progress.  It  has  been  said  with  some  truth 
that  Robinson  Crusoe  is  a  philosophy  of  history. 
But  we  scarcely  need  such  a  high-sounding  name. 
To  the  child  he  is  a  very  concrete,  individual  man, 
with  very  simple  and  interesting  duties. 

In  a  second  point  the  author  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe  " 
shows  himself  a  literary  master.  There  is  an  intense 
and  naive  realism  in  his  story.  Even  if  one  were  so 
disposed,  it  would  require  a  strong  effort  to  break 
loose  from  the  feeling  that  we  are  in  the  presence  of 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  8 1 

real  experiences.  There  is  a  quiet  but  irresistible 
assumption  of  unvarnished  and  even  disagreeable 
fact  in  the  narrative.  But  it  is  useless  to  describe 
the  style  of  a  book  so  familiar.  Its  power  over 
youthful  fancy  and  feeling  has  been  too  often  experi- 
enced to  be  doubted.  The  vivid  interest  which  the 
book  awakens  is  certain  to  carry  home  whatever  les- 
sons it  may  teach  with  added  force.  So  great  is  this 
influence  that  boys  sometimes  imitate  the  efforts  of 
Crusoe  by  making  caves,  building  ovens,  and  assum- 
ing a  style  of  dress  and  living  that  approximates 
Crusoe's  state.  This  supplies  to  teachers  a  hint  of 
some  value.  The  story  of  Crusoe  should  lead  to 
excursions  into  the  home  neighborhood  for  the  pur- 
pose of  a  closer  examination  of  the  trades  and  occu- 
pations there  represented.  An  imitation  of  his  labors 
may  also  be  encouraged.  The  effort  to  mould  and 
bake  vessels  from  potter's  clay,  the  platting  of  bas- 
kets from  willow  withes,  the  use  of  tools  in  making 
boxes  or  tables  may  be  attempted  far  enough  to  dis- 
cover how  lacking  in  practical  ability  the  children 
are.  This  will  certainly  teach  them  greater  respect 
for  manual  skill. 

From  the  previous  discussion  it  might  appear  that 
we  regard  the  story  of  Crusoe  as  technological  and 
industrial  rather  than  moral.  But  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  a  book  is  not  moral  because  it  is 
not  perpetually  dispensing  moral  platitudes.  Most 
men's   lives   are   mainly  industrial.     The  display  of 


82  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

moral  qualities  is  only  occasional  and  incidental. 
The  development  of  moral  character  is  coincident 
with  the  labors  and  experiences  of  life  and  springs 
out  of  them,  being  manifested  by  the  spirit  with 
which  one  acts  toward  his  fellow-men.  But  Crusoe 
was  alone  on  his  island,  and  there  might  seem  to  be 
no  opportunity  to  be  moral  in  relation  to  others.  So- 
ciety, to  be  sure,  was  conspicuous  by  its  absence. 
But  the  intense  longing  with  which  he  thought  of 
the  home  and  companionships  lost  is  perhaps  the 
strongest  sentiment  in  the  book.  His  loneliness 
brings  out  most  vividly  his  true  relation  to  home  and 
friends. 

His  early  life,  till  the  shipwreck,  was  that  of  a  way- 
ward and  reckless  youth,  disobedient  to  parents  and 
seemingly  without  moral  scruples.  Even  during  the 
first  months  upon  the  island  there  appears  little  moral 
change  or  betterment.  But  slowly  the  bitter  experi- 
ences of  his  lonely  life  sober  him.  He  finds  a  Bible, 
and  a  fit  of  sickness  reveals  the  distresses  that  may 
lie  before  him.  When  once  the  change  has  set  in,  it 
is  rapid  and  thorough.  He  becomes  devout,  he  longs 
to  return  to  his  parents  and  atone  for  his  faults.  A 
complete  reformation  of  his  moral  disposition  is 
effected.  If  one  will  take  the  pains  to  read  the 
original  "  Robinson  Crusoe "  he  will  find  it  surpris- 
ingly serious  and  moral  in  its  tone.  He  devotes 
much  time  to  soliloquizing  on  the  distresses  of  his 
condition  and  upon  the  causes  which  have  brought 


; 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  83 

him  to  misery.  He  diagnoses  his  case  with  an 
amount  of  detail  that  must  be  tedious  to  children. 
The  fact  that  these  parts  of  the  book  often  leave 
little  direct  impression  upon  children  is  proof  that 
they  are  chiefly  engaged  with  the  adventure  and 
physical  embarrassments  of  Crusoe.  For  the  present 
it  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  the  story  is  deeply  and 
intensely  moral  both  in  its  spirit  and  in  the  changes 
described  in  "  Crusoe." 

We  are  next  led  to  inquire  whether  the  industrial 
and  moral  lessons  contained  in  this  story  are  likely  to 
be  extracted  from  it  by  a  boy  or  girl  who  reads  it 
alone,  without  the  aid  of  a  teacher.  Most  young 
readers  of  "  Crusoe"  are  carried  along  by  the  inter- 
esting adventure.  It  is  a  very  surprising  and  enter- 
taining story.  But  children  even  less  than  adults  are 
inclined  to  go  deeper  than  the  surface  and  draw  up 
hidden  treasures.  De  Foe's  work  is  a  piece  of  classic 
literature.  But  few  people  are  inclined  to  get  at  the 
deeper  meaning  and  spirit  of  a  classical  masterpiece 
unless  they  go  through  it  in  companionship  with  a 
teacher  who  is  gifted  to  disclose  its  better  meaning. 
This  is  true  of  any  classical  product  we  might  men- 
tion. It  should  be  the  peculiar  function  of  the 
school  to  cultivate  a  taste,  and  an  appreciative  taste, 
for  the  best  literature ;  not  by  leaving  it  to  the  hap- 
hazard home  reading  of  pupils,  but  by  selecting  the 
best  things  adapted  to  the  minds  of  children  and  then 
employing  true  teaching  skill  to  bring  these  treas- 


84  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

ures  close  to  the  hearts  and  sympathies  of  children. 
Many  young  people  do  not  read  "  Robinson  Crusoe  M  at 
all ;  many  others  do  not  appreciate  its  better  phases. 
The  school  will  much  improve  its  work  by  taking 
for  its  own  this  best  of  children's  stories,  and  by 
extending  and  deepening  the  children's  appreciation 
of  a  classic. 

The  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  is  made  by  the 
Herbartians  the  nucleus  for  the  concentration  of 
studies  in  the  second  year.  This  importance  is 
given  to  it  on  account  of  its  strong  moral  tone  and 
because  of  its  universal  typical  character  in  man's 
development.  Without  attempting  a  solution  of  the 
problem  of  concentration  at  this  juncture,  we  should 
at  least  observe  the  relations  of  this  story  to  the 
other  studies.  Wilmann  says :  "  The  everywhere 
and  nowhere  of  the  fairy  tale  gives  place  to  the 
first  geographical  limitations.  The  continents,  the 
chief  countries  of  Europe,  come  up,  besides  a  series 
of  geographical  concepts  such  as  island,  coast,  bay, 
river,  hill,  mountain,  sea,  etc.  The  difference  in 
climate  is  surprising.  Crusoe  fears  the  winter  and 
prepares  for  it,  but  his  fear  is  needless,  for  no  winter 
reaches  his  island."  We  have  already  observed  its 
instructive  treatment  of  the  common  occupations 
which  prepare  for  later  geographical  study,  as  well 
as  for  natural  science. 

Many  plants  and  animals  are  brought  to  notice 
which  would   furnish   a  good  beginning  for  natural 


SECOND  GRADE  STORIES  85 

science  lessons.  It  is  advisable,  however,  to  study- 
rather  those  home  animals  and  plants  which  corre- 
spond best  to  the  tropical  products  or  animals  in  the 
lessons.  Tropical  fruits,  the  parrot,  and  the  goat  we 
often  meet  at  home,  but  in  addition,  the  sheep,  the 
ox,  the  mocking-bird,  the  woodpecker,  our  native 
fruits  and  grains,  and  the  fish,  turtles,  and  minerals 
of  the  home,  may  well  be  suggested  and  studied  in 
science  lessons  parallel  with  the  life  of  Crusoe. 

Following  upon  the  oral  treatment  and  discussion 
of  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  the  children  are  easily  led  to 
like  efforts  at  construction,  as,  for  instance,  the  mak- 
ing of  a  raft,  the  building  of  the  cave  and  stockade, 
the  making  of  chairs  and  tables,  the  moulding  of  jars 
and  kettles  out  of  clay,  the  weaving  of  baskets,  the 
preparation  and  cooking  of  foods,  the  planting  of 
grains,  the  construction  of  an  oven  or  house,  boat 
building,  and  other  labors  of  Crusoe  in  providing  for 
his  wants. 

It  is  quite  customary  now  in  second  grade  to  set 
the  children  to  work  in  these  efforts  to  solve  Crusoe's 
problems,  so  that  they,  by  working  with  actual 
materials,  may  realize  more  fully  the  difficulties  and 
trials  to  which  he  was  subjected.  In  close  connec- 
tion with  these  constructive  efforts  are  the  drawings 
of  the  scenes  of  the  story,  such  as  the  shipwreck, 
the  stockade,  the  boat,  the  map  of  the  island,  and 
some  of  the  later  events  of  the  story.  A  still  further 
means  of  giving  reality  to  the  events  is  to  dramatize 


86  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

some  of  the  scenes  between  Friday  and  Crusoe,  and 
to  dress  and  equip  these  and  other  persons  in  the 
story  in  fitting  manner.  The  children  gladly  enter 
into  such  dramatic  action.  These  various  forms  of 
drawing,  action,  and  constructive  work  are  in  close 
connection  with  the  home  studies  of  industries  and 
occupations,  —  farming,  gardening,  carpenter  and 
blacksmith  shops,  weaving,  cooking,  bakeries,  and  ex- 
cursions to  shops  —  which  follow  the  Crusoe  story 
in  the  study  of  home  geography'  in  the  third  grade. 

Although  the  story  should  be  given  and  discussed 
orally,  the  children  should  also  read  it  later  as  a  part 
of  the  regular  reading  exercise  of  the  course. 
Instead  of  suffering  from  this  repetition,  their  inter- 
est will  only  be  increased.  Classical  products  usu- 
ally gain  by  repetition.  The  facts  are  brought  out 
more  clearly  and  the  deeper  meaning  is  perceived. 
To  have  the  oral  treatment  of  a  story  precede  its 
reading  by  some  weeks  or  months  produces  an  excel- 
lent effect  upon  the  style  of  the  reading.  The 
thought  being  familiar,  and  the  interest  strong,  the 
expression  will  be  vigorous  and  natural.  Children 
take  a  pride  in  reading  a  story  which  they  at  first 
must  receive  orally  for  lack  of  reading  power. 

The  same  advantageous  drill  in  the  use  of  good 
English  accrues  to  the  Crusoe  story  that  was  ob- 
served in  the  fairy  tales.  There  is  abundant  oppor- 
tunity for  oral  narrative  and  description. 

The  use  of  the  pencil  and  chalk  in  graphic  repre- 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  8? 

sentation  should  be  encouraged  both  in  teacher  and 
in  pupils.  Thus  the  eye  becomes  more  accurate  in 
observation  and  the  hand  more  free  and  facile  in 
tracing  the  outlines  of  the  interesting  forms  studied. 
The  use  of  tools  and  materials  in  construction  gives 
ideas  an  anchorage,  not  only  in  the  brain,  but  even 
in  the  nerves  and  muscles. 

In  thus  glancing  over  the  field  we  discover  the 
same  many-sided  and  intimate  relation  with  other 
school  studies,  as  in  the  previous  grade.  In  fact, 
*  Crusoe  "  is  the  first  extended  classical  masterpiece 
which  is  presented  to  the  children  as  a  whole.  Such 
parts  of  the  story  as  are  of  most  pedagogical  value 
should  be  simplified  and  woven  together  into  a  con- 
tinuous narrative.  That  part  of  the  story  which  pre- 
cedes the  shipwreck  may  be  reduced  to  a  few 
paragraphs  which  bring  out  clearly  his  early  home 
surroundings,  his  disobedience  and  the  desertion  of 
his  parents,  and  the  voyage  which  led  to  his  lonely 
life  upon  the  island.  The  period  embraced  in  his 
companionless  labors  and  experiences  constitutes  the 
important  part  for  school  uses.  A  few  of  the  more 
important  episodes  following  the  capture  of  Friday 
and  his  return  home  may  be  briefly  told.  We  deem  it 
a  long  step  forward  to  get  some  of  our  great  classical 
masterpieces  firmly  embedded  in  the  early  years  of 
our  school  course.  It  will  contribute  almost  as  much 
to  the  culture  and  stimulation  of  teachers  as  of  pupils. 

The  method  of  handling  this  narrative  before  the 


88  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

class  will  be  similar  to  that  of  the  fairy  tales.  A 
simple  and  vivid  recital  of  the  facts,  with  frequent 
questions  and  discussions,  so  as  to  draw  the  story- 
closer  to  the  child's  own  thought  and  experience, 
should  be  made  by  the  teacher.  Much  skill  in  illus- 
trative device,  in  graphic  description,  in  diagram  or 
drawing,  in  the  appeal  to  the  sense  experiences  of 
the  pupils,  is  in  demand.  The  excursion  to  places  of 
interest  in  the  neighborhood  suggested  by  the  story 
begins  to  be  an  important  factor  of  the  school  exer- 
cises. As  children  grow  older  they  acquire  skill  and 
confidence  in  oral  narrative,  and  should  be  held  to 
greater  independence  in  oral  reproductions. 

One  of  the  best  school  editions  of  "  Robinson 
Crusoe  "  is  published  by  Ginn  &  Co. 

A  simple  edition  for  second  grade  is  published  by 
the  Public  School  Publishing  Co. 

The  teacher  should  be  supplied  with  one  of  the 
larger,  fuller  editions  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  like  that 
of  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.,  in  the  Riverside  Litera- 
ture Series.  It  furnishes  a  much  fuller  detail  of 
knowledge  for  the  teacher's  use.  It  will  also  be  of 
great  advantage  for  classroom  use  to  possess  an  illus- 
trated edition  like  that  of  George  Routledge  &  Sons. 

The  full  treatment  of  this  story,  first  in  simple, 
oral  narrative,  later  by  its  use  as  a  reading  book, 
and  later  still  by  the  child  reading  the  complete 
edition  for  himself  in  private,  illustrates  the  intensive 
concentration  of  thought  and   constructive   activity 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  89 

upon  a  great  piece  of  literature  as  opposed  to  a  loose 
and  superficial  treatment.  Such  a  piece  of  work 
should  remain  for  life  a  source  of  deeper  thought, 
feeling,  and  experience. 


"  HIAWATHA 

The  story  of  Hiawatha  has  been  much  employed 
for  oral  treatment  in  primary  grades  and  later  for 
regular  treatment  in  reading  lessons. 

The  story  of  Hiawatha  has  been  used  sufficiently 
in  primary  grades  to  show  how  many  are  its  sugges- 
tions for  drawing  and  constructive  work.  Little 
children  take  delight  in  drawing  the  Indian  tents, 
bows  and  arrows,  pine  forests,  Indian  warriors  and 
dress,  the  canoe,  the  tomahawk,  the  birds  and  ani- 
mals. The  cutting  of  these  forms  in  paper  they 
have  fully  enjoyed. 

Pictures  of  Indian  life,  collections  of  arrow-heads, 
the  peace-pipes,  articles  of  dress,  cooking  utensils, 
wampum,  stone  hatchets,  red  pipe-stone  ornaments, 
or  a  visit  to  any  collection  of  Indian  relics  are  desir- 
able as  a  part  of  this  instruction.  The  museums 
in  cities  and  expositions  are  rich  in  these  materials, 
and  in  many  private  collections  are  just  the  desired 
objects  of  study. 

It  is  well  known  that  children  love  to  construct 
tents,  dress  in  Indian  style,  and  imitate  the  mode  of 


90  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

life,  the  hunting,  dancing,  and  sports  of  Indians. 
Teachers  have  taken  advantage  of  this  instinct  to 
allow  them  to  construct  an  Indian  village  on  a  small 
scale,  and  assume  the  dress  and  action  of  Hiawatha 
and  his  friends,  and  even  to  dramatize  parts  of  the 
story. 

It  is  only  certain  selected  parts  of  the  "  Hiawatha  " 
that  lend  themselves  best  to  the  oral  treatment  with 
children,  and  that,  at  first,  not  in  the  poetic  form. 
In  fact,  the  oral  treatment  of  a  story  in  beautiful 
poetic  form  demands  a  peculiar  method. 

For  example,  in  treating  the  childhood  of  Hiawatha 
as  he  dwelt  with  old  Nokomis  in  the  tent  beside  the 
sea,  the  main  facts  of  this  episode,  or  a  part  of  it, 
may  be  talked  over  by  means  of  description,  partly 
also  by  development,  question,  and  answer,  and  when 
these  things  are  clear,  let  this  passage  of  the  poem 
be  read  to  the  children.  The  preliminary  treatment 
and  discussion  will  put  the  children  in  possession 
of  the  ideas  and  pictures  by  which  they  can  better 
appreciate  and  assimilate  the  poem.  This  mode  of 
introducing  children  to  a  poem  or  literary  master- 
piece is  not  uncommon  with  children  in  later  years, 
at  least  in  the  middle  grades. 

It  has  been  customary  to  use  nearly  the  whole 
poem  in  fourth  or  fifth  school  year  for  regular  read- 
ing, and  it  is  well  suited  to  this  purpose.  Its  use  in 
primary  grades  for  such  oral  treatment  as  we  have 
described  will  not  interfere  with  its  employment  as 


SECOND    GRADE    STORIES  91 

reading  matter  later  on,  but  rather  increase  its  value 
for  that  purpose. 

A  number  of  books  have  been  written  by  prac- 
tical teachers  on  the  use  of  "Hiawatha"  in  primary- 
grades  :  — 

"The  Hiawatha  Primer."  Houghton,  Mifflin,  & 
Co. 

"  Hints  on  the  Study  of  Hiawatha"  (Alice  M. 
Krackowizer).     A.  Flanagan,  publisher. 

The  best  edition  of  the  "  Hiawatha  "  is  "  Longfel- 
low's Song  of  Hiawatha,"  which  is  well  illustrated. 
Published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Other  editions  are  "  The  Song  of  Hiawatha."  The 
Educational  Publishing  Co. 

"Longfellow's  Hiawatha."     The  Macmillan  Co. 

"  Song  of  Hiawatha."     University  Publishing  Co. 


CHAPTER  V 
Third  Grade  Stories 
the  mythical  stories 

In  the  third  grade  we  wish  to  bring  a  number  of 
the  mythical  stories  vividly  before  the  children.  The 
classical  myths  which  belong  to  the  literature  of 
Europe  are  the  fund  from  which  to  select  the  best. 
Not  all,  but  only  a  few  of  the  simple  and  appropriate 
stories  can  be  chosen.  Only  two  recitation  periods  a 
week  are  usually  set  apart  for  the  oral  treatment  of 
these  old  myths.  But  later  in  the  progress  of  the 
reading  lessons  other  similar  stories  should  be  treated. 
The  few  recitation  periods  used  for  oral  work  are 
rather  designed  to  introduce  children  to  the  spirit  of 
this  literature,  to  get  them  into  the  appreciative  mind. 

This  body  of  ancient  myths  comes  down  to  us, 
sifted  out  of  the  early  literature  of  the  active-minded 
Greeks.  They  have  found  their  way  as  a  simple  and 
charming  poetry  into  the  national  literature  of  all  the 
European  countries.  Is  this  the  material  suited  to 
nine-  and  ten-year-old  children  ?  It  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned that  these  myths  belong  to  the  best  literary 
products  of  Europe,  but  are  they  suited  to  children  ? 

It  is  evident  that  some  of  our  best  literary  judges 
have  deemed  them  appropriate.     Hawthorne  has  put 

92 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  93 

them  into  a  form  designed  especially  for  the  young 
folk.  Charles  Kingsley  wrote  of  the  Greek  myths 
for  his  children :  "  Now  I  love  these  old  Hellens 
heartily,  and  they  seem  to  me  like  brothers,  though 
they  have  all  been  dead  and  gone  many  a  hundred 
years.  They  are  come  to  tell  you  some  of  their  old  fairy 
tales,  which  they  loved  when  they  were  young  like 
you.  For  nations  begin  at  first  by  being  children  like 
you,  though  they  are  made  up  of  grown  men.  They 
are  children  at  first  like  you  —  men  and  women  with 
children's  hearts ;  frank,  and  affectionate,  and  full 
of  trust,  and  teachable,  loving  to  see  and  learn  all 
the  wonders  around  them;  and  greedy  also,  too 
often,  and  passionate  and  silly,  as  children  are." 

Not  a  few  other  authors  of  less  note  have  tried  to 
turn  the  classical  myths  of  the  old  Greek  poets  into 
simple  English  for  the  entertainment  and  instruction 
of  children.  Scarcely  any  of  these  stories  that  have 
not  appeared  in  various  children's  books  in  recent 
years.  Taken  as  a  whole,  they  are  a  storehouse 
of  children's  literature.  The  philosopher,  Herbart, 
looked  upon  poems  of  Homer  as  giving  ideal  expres- 
sion to  the  boyhood  of  the  race,  and  the  story  of 
Ulysses  was  regarded  by  him  as  the  boy's  book,  — 
the  Greek  Robinson  Crusoe.  For  the  child  of  nine 
years  he  thought  it  the  most  suitable  story. 

Kingsley  says  in  his  Introduction  :  "  Now  you  must 
not  think  of  the  Greeks  in  this  book  as  learned  men, 
living  in  great  cities,  such  as  they  were  afterwards, 


94  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

when  they  wrought  all  their  beautiful  works,  but  as 
country  people,  living  on  farms  and  in  walled  villages, 
in  a  simple,  hard-working  way ;  so  that  the  greatest 
kings  and  heroes  cooked  their  own  meals  and  thought 
it  no  shame,  and  made  their  own  ships  and  weapons, 
and  fed  and  harnessed  their  own  horses.  So  that  a 
man  was  honored  among  them,  not  because  he  hap- 
pened to  be  rich,  but  according  to  his  skill  and  his 
strength  and  courage  and  the  number  of  things  he 
could  do.  For  they  were  but  grown-up  children, 
though  they  were  right  noble  children  too,  and  it  was 
with  them  as  it  is  now  at  school,  the  strongest  and 
cleverest  boy,  though  he  be  poor,  leads  all  the  rest." 
In  the  introduction  to  the  "  Wonder  Book  "  we  find 
the  following :  "  Hawthorne  took  a  vital  interest  in 
child  life.  He  was  accustomed  to  observe  his  own 
children  very  closely.  There  are  private  manuscripts 
extant  which  present  exact  records  of  what  his  young 
son  and  elder  daughter  said  or  did  from  hour  to  hour, 
the  father  seating  himself  in  their  playroom  and 
patiently  noting  all  that  passed.  To  this  habit  of 
watchful  and  sympathetic  scrutiny  we  may  attribute 
in  part  the  remarkable  felicity,  the  fortunate  ease  of 
adaptation  to  the  immature  understanding,  and  the 
skilful  appeal  to  the  fresh  imaginations  which  char- 
acterize his  stories  for  the  young."  Hawthorne  him- 
self says :  "  The  author  has  long  been  of  the  opinion 
that  many  of  the  classical  myths  were  capable  of 
being  rendered   into  very  capital  reading  for  chil- 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  95 

dren.  .  .  .  No  epoch  of  time  can  claim  a  copyright 
on  these  immortal  fables.  They  seem  never  to  have 
been  made,  and  so  long  as  man  exists  they  can  never 
perish  ;  but  by  their  indestructibility  itself  they  are 
legitimate  subjects,  for  every  age  to  clothe  with  its 
own  garniture  of  manners  and  sentiment,  and  to 
imbue  with  its  own  morality.  .  .  .  The  author  has 
not  always  thought  it  necessary  to  write  downward  in 
order  to  meet  the  comprehension  of  children.  He  has 
generally  suffered  the  theme  to  soar,  whenever  such 
was  its  tendency.  Children  possess  an  unestimated 
sensibility  to  whatever  is  deep  or  high  in  imagination 
or  feeling  so  long  as  it  is  simple  likewise.  It  is  only 
the  artificial  and  the  complex  that  bewilder  them." 

A  brief  analysis  of  the  qualities  which  render  these 
myths  so  attractive  will  help  us  to  see  their  value  in 
the  education  of  children. 

The  astonishing  brightness  of  fanciful  episode  and 
of  pure  and  clear-cut  imagery  has  an  indestructible 
charm  for  children.  They  can  soar  into  and  above 
the  clouds  on  the  shining  wings  of  Pegasus.  With 
Eolus  they  shut  up  the  contrary  winds  in  an  ox-hide, 
and  later  let  them  out  to  plague  the  much-suffering 
Ulysses.  They  watch  with  astonishment  as  Jason 
yokes  the  fire-breathing  oxen  and  strews  the  field 
with  uprooted  stumps  and  stones  as  he  prepares  the 
soil  for  the  seed  of  dragon's  teeth.  Each  child 
becomes  a  poet  as  he  recreates  the  sparkling  bright- 
ness  of  these   simple  pictures.     And  when  a  child 


g6  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

has  once  suffered  his  fancy  to  soar  to  these  mountain 
heights  and  ocean  depths,  it  will  no  longer  be  possi- 
ble to  make  his  life  entirely  dull  and  prosaic.  He 
has  caught  glimpses  of  a  bright  world  that  will  linger 
unfading  in  the  uplands  of  his  memory.  And  while 
they  are  so  deep  and  lofty  they  are  still,  as  Haw- 
thorne says,  very  simple.  Some  of  the  most  classic 
of  the  old  stories  are  indeed  too  long  for  third  grade 
children ;  too  many  persons  and  too  much  complexity, 
as  in  the  "  Tales  of  Troy."  But  on  the  other  hand, 
many  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  old  myths  are  as 
plain  and  simple  to  a  child  as  a  floating  summer 
cloud.  High  in  the  sky  they  may  be  or  deep  in  the 
reflection  of  some  lake  or  spring,  but  clear  and  plain 
to  the  thought  of  a  little  child.  These  stories  in  their 
naive  simplicity  reflect  the  wonder  and  surprise  with 
which  a  person  first  beholds  grand  and  touching 
scenery,  whether  it  be  the  oppressive  grandeur  of 
some  beetling  mountain  crag,  or  the  placid  quiet  of 
a  moonlit  stream.  The  stories  selected  for  this  grade 
should  be  the  simplest  and  best :  "The  Golden  Touch," 
"  Perseus,"  "  The  Chimaera,"  of  Hawthorne,  the  epi- 
sodes of  the  "  Golden  Fleece,"  with  others  similar. 

In  one  form  or  another  they  introduce  us  to  the 
company  of  heroes,  or,  at  least,  of  great  and  simple 
characters.  Deeds  of  enterprise  and  manliness  or 
of  unselfishness  and  generosity  are  the  climax  of  the 
story.  To  meet  danger  and  hardship  or  ridicule  for 
the    sake    of    a  high   purpose  is  their   underlying 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  97 

thought.  Perseus  and  Jason  and  Ulysses  are  all 
ambitious  to  prove  their  title  to  superior  shrewdness 
and  courage  and  self-control.  When  we  get  fairly 
into  the  mythical  age,  we  find  ourselves  among  the 
heroes,  among  those  striving  for  mastery  and  leader- 
ship in  great  undertakings.  Physical  prowess  and 
manly  spirit  are  its  chief  virtues.  And  can  there 
be  any  question  that  there  is  a  time  in  the  lives  of 
children  when  these  ideas  fill  the  horizon  of  their 
thought  ?  Samson  and  David  and  Hercules,  Bel- 
lerophon  and  Jason,  are  a  child's  natural  thoughts  ■ 
or,  at  least,  they  fit  the  frame  of  his  mind  so  exactly 
that  one  may  say  the  picture  and  the  frame  were 
made  for  each  other.  The  history  of  most  countries 
contains  such  an  age  of  heroes.  Tell  in  Switzerland, 
Siegfried  in  Germany,  Bruce  in  Scotland,  Romulus 
and  Horatius  at  Rome,  Alfred  in  England,  are  all 
national  heroes  of  the  mythical  age,  whose  deeds  are 
heroic  and  of  public  good.  The  Greek  stories  are 
only  a  more  classic  edition  of  this  historical  epoch, 
and  should  lead  up  to  a  study  of  these  later  products 
of  European  literature. 

Several  forms  of  moral  excellence  are  objectively 
realized  or  personified  in  these  stories. 

As  the  wise  Centaur,  after  teaching  Jason  to  be 
skilful  and  brave,  sent  him  out  into  the  world,  he 
said :  "  Well,  go,  my  son ;  the  throne  belongs  to  thy 
father  and  the  gods  love  justice.  But  remember,  wher- 
ever thou  dost  wander,  to  observe  these  three  things : 


98  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

"  Relieve  the  distressed. 
"  Respect  the  aged. 
"Be  true  to  thy  word."1 

And  many  events  in  Jason's  life  illustrate  the 
wisdom  of  these  words.  The  miraculous  pitcher  is 
one  whose  fountain  of  refreshing  milk  bubbled 
always  because  of  a  gentle  deed  of  hospitality  to 
strangers.  King  Midas,  on  the  other  hand,  experi- 
ences in  most  graphic  form  the  punishment  which 
ought  to  follow  miserly  greed,  while  his  humble 
penitence  brought  back  his  daughter  and  the  homely 
comforts  of  life.  Bellerophon  is  filled  with  a  desire 
to  perform  a  noble  deed  that  will  relieve  the  distress 
of  a  whole  people.  After  the  exercise  of  much 
patience  and  self-control  he  succeeds  in  his  gener- 
ous enterprise.  Many  a  lesson  of  worldly  wisdom 
and  homely  virtue  is  brought  out  in  the  story  of 
Ulysses*  varied  and  adventuresome  career. 

These  myths  bring  children  into  lively  contact 
with  European  history  and  geography,  as  well  as 
with  its  modes  of  life  and  thought.  The  early  his- 
tory of  Europe  is  in  all  cases  shrouded  in  mist  and 
legend.  But  even  from  this  historically  impenetra- 
ble past  has  sprung  a  literature  that  has  exercised  a 
profound  influence  upon  the  life  and  growth  of  the 
people.  Not  that  children  are  conscious  of  the  sig- 
nificance  of   these  ideas,   but  being    placed   in   an 

1  Jason's  Quest  (Lowell),  p.  55. 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  99 

atmosphere  which  is  full  of  them,  their  deeper  mean- 
ing gradually  unfolds  itself.  The  early  myths  afford 
an  interesting  approach  for  children  to  the  history 
and  geography  of  important  countries.  Those  coun- 
tries they  must,  sooner  or  later,  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  both  geographically  and  historically,  and 
could  anything  be  designed  to  take  stronger  hold 
upon  their  imagination  and  memory  than  these 
charming  myths,  which  were  the  poetry  and  religion 
of  the  people  once  living  there  ? 

It  is  a  very  simple  and  primitive  state  of  culture, 
whose  ships,  arms,  agriculture,  and  domestic  life  are 
given  us  in  clear  and  pleasing  pictures.  Our  own 
country  is  largely  lacking  in  a  mythical  age.  Our 
culture  sprang,  more  than  half-grown,  from  the 
midst  of  Europe's  choicest  nations,  and  out  of  insti- 
tutions that  had  been  centuries  in  forming.  The 
myths  of  Europe  are  therefore  as  truly  ours  as  they 
are  the  treasure  of  Englishmen,  of  Germans,  or  of 
Greeks.  Again,  our  own  literature,  as  well  as  that 
of  European  states,  is  full  of  the  spirit  and  sugges- 
tion of  the  mythical  age.  Our  poets  and  writers 
have  drawn  much  of  their  imagery  from  this  old 
storehouse  of  thought,  and  a  child  will  better  under- 
stand the  works  of  the  present  through  this  contact 
with  mythical  ages. 

In  method  of  treatment  with  school  classes,  these 
stories  will  admit  of  a  variation  from  the  plan  used  with 
"  Robinson  Crusoe."  One  unaccustomed  to  the  reading 


IOO  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

of  such  stories  would  be  at  a  loss  for  a  method  of 
treatment  with  children.  There  is  a  charm  and  liter- 
ary art  in  the  presentation  that  may  make  the 
teacher  feel  unqualified  to  present  them.  The  chil- 
dren are  not  yet  sufficiently  masters  of  the  printed 
symbols  of  speech  to  read  for  themselves.  Shall  the 
teacher  simply  read  the  stories  to  children  ?  We 
would  suggest  first  of  all,  that  the  teacher,  who  would 
expect  to  make  use  of  these  materials,  steep  himself 
fully  in  literature  of  this  class,  and  bring  his  mind 
into  familiar  acquaintance  and  sympathy  with  its  char- 
acters. In  interpreting  classical  authors  to  pupils, 
we  are  justified  in  requiring  of  the  teacher  intimate 
knowledge  and  appreciative  sympathy  with  his  author. 
Certainly  no  one  will  teach  these  stories  well  whose 
fancy  was  never  touched  into  airy  flights  —  who  can- 
not become  a  child  again  and  partake  of  his  pleas- 
ures. No  condescension  is  needed,  but  ascension  to 
a  free  and  ready  flight  of  fancy.  By  learning  to 
drink  at  these  ancient  fountains  of  song  and  poetry, 
the  teacher  might  learn  to  tell  a  fairy  story  for  him- 
self. But  doubtless  it  will  be  well  to  mingle  oral  narra- 
tive and  description  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  with  the 
fit  reading  of  choice  parts  so  as  to  better  preserve  the 
classic  beauty  and  suggestion  of  the  author.  Children 
are  quite  old  enough  now  to  appreciate  beauty  of  lan- 
guage and  expressive,  happy  turns  of  speech.  In 
the  midst  of  question,  suggestion,  and  discussion  be- 
tween pupil  and  teacher,  the  story  should  be  carried 


THIRD    GRADE -TORIES  ID'' 

forward,  never  forgetting  to  stop  at  suitable  intervals 
and  get  such  a  reproduction  of  the  story  as  the  little 
children  are  capable  of.  And  indeed  they  are  capa- 
ble of  much  in  this  direction,  for  their  thoughts  are 
more  nimble,  and  their  power  of  expression  more  apt, 
oftentimes,  than  the  teacher's  own. 

We  would  not  favor  a  simple  reading  of  these 
stories  for  the  entertainment  of  pupils.  It  should 
take  more  the  form  of  a  school  exercise,  requiring 
not  only  interest  and  attention,  but  vigorous  effort  to 
grasp  and  reproduce  the  thought.  The  result  should 
be  a  much  livelier  and  deeper  insight  into  the  story 
than  would  be  secured  by  a  simple  reading  for  amuse- 
ment or  variety.  They  should  prepare  also  for  an 
appreciative  reading  of  other  myths  in  the  following 
grades. 

After  all,  in  two  or  three  recitation  periods  a  week, 
extending  through  a  year,  it  cannot  be  expected  that 
children  will  make  the  acquaintance  of  all  the  litera- 

ire  that  could  be  properly  called  the  myth  of  the 
leroic  age  in  different  countries.  All  that  we  may 
expect  is  to  enter  this  paradise  of  children,  to  pluck 
few  of  its  choicest  flowers,  and  get  such  a  breath  of 
their  fragrance  that  there  will  be  a  child's  desire  to 
return  again  and  again.  The  school  also  should  pro- 
ride  in  the  succeeding  year  for  an  abundance  of  read- 

ig  of  myths.  The  same  old  stories  which  they  first 
learned  to  enjoy  in  oral  recitations  should  be  read  in 
books,  and  still  others  should  be  utilized  in  the  regu- 


I02  .SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

lar  reading  classes  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades.  In 
this  way  the  myths  of  other  countries  may  be  brought 
in,  the  story  of  Tell,  of  Siegfried,  of  Alfred,  and  of 
others. 

In  summarizing  the  advantages  of  a  systematic 
attempt  to  get  this  simple  classic  lore  into  our 
schools,  we  recall  the  interest  and  mental  activity 
which  it  arouses,  its  power  to  please  and  satisfy  the 
creative  fancy  in  children,  its  fundamental  feeling 
and  instincts,  the  virtues  of  bravery,  manliness,  and 
unselfishness,  and  all  this  in  a  form  that  still  further 
increases  its  culture  effect  upon  teacher  and  pupil. 
It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  teacher  and  pupil 
alike  are  here  imbibing  lessons  and  inspirations  that 
draw  them  into  closer  sympathy  because  the  subject 
is  worthy  of  both  old  and  young. 

In  addition  to  the  earlier  Greek  myths  we  may  men- 
tion the  following  subjects  as  suitable  for  oral  treatment : 

The  story  of  Ulysses  has  been  much  used  in  schools 
with  oral  presentation,  and  is  one  of  the  best  tales  for 
this  purpose  in  all  literature.  A  somewhat  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  value  of  this  story  for  schools,  is  found 
in  the  Special  Method  in  Reading  of  Complete 
English  Classics. 

The  Norse  mythology  has  also  received  much 
attention  from  teachers  who  have  used  the  oral  mode 
of  treatment.  Several  of  the  best  books  of  Norse 
mythology  are  mentioned  in  the  appended  list.  Also 
the  great  story  of  Siegfried. 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  103 

Some  of  the  old  traditional  stories  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  Rome,  of  France,  Germany,  and  England,  have 
been  used  for  oral  narration  and  reading  to  children. 

The  "  Seven  Little  Sisters  "  and  its  companion  book 
"  Each  and  All,"  and  the  "  Ten  Boys  on  the  Road 
from  Long  Ago  to  Now,"  by  Jane  Andrews,  published 
by  Ginn  &  Co.,  have  been  employed  extensively  for 
oral  and  reading  work  in  the  third  and  fourth  years 
of  school.  The  "  Seven  Little  Sisters  "  is  valuable  in 
connection  with  the  beginnings  of  geography. 

BOOKS   OF  THIRD   YEAR  STORIES 

The  Wonder  Book  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 

The  following  stories  are  especially  recommended:   The 
Gorgon's  Head,  The  Golden  Touch,  The  Miraculous  Pitcher, 
and  The  Chimaera. 
»  One  should  preserve  as  much  as  possible  of  the  spirit  and 

language  of  the  author.     Perhaps  in  classes  with  children  the 
other  stories  will  be  found  equally  attractive :  The  Paradise 
of  Children  and  the  Three  Golden  Apples.     Published  by 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.,  Boston. 
Kingsley's  Greek  Heroes. 

The  stories  of  Perseus,  the  Argonauts,  and  Theseus,  es- 
pecially adapted  to  children.  It  may  be  advisable  for  the 
teacher  to  abbreviate  the  stories,  leaving  out  unimportant 
parts,  but  giving  the  best  portions  in  the  fullest  detail.  Pub- 
lished by  Ginn  &  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
Story  of  the  Iliad  and  Story  of  the  Odyssey  (Church). 

Simple  and  interesting  narrative  of  the  Homeric  stories. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 
Jason's  Quest  (Lowell). 

The  story  of  the  Argonauts  with  many  other  Greek  myths 
woven  into  the  narrative.  This  book  is  a  store  of  excellent 
material.     The  teacher  should  select  from  it  those  parts 


I 


104  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

specially  suited  to  the  grade.     Published  by  Sibley  &  Ducker, 
Chicago. 
Adventures  of  Ulysses  (Lamb) . 

A  small  book  from  which  the  chief  episodes  of  Ulysses' 
career  can  be  obtained.     Published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 
The  Story  of  Siegfried  (Baldwin) .    Published  by  Scribner's  Sons. 
Peabody's  Old  Greek  Folk  Stories. 

Simple  and  well  written.     A  supplement  to  the  Wonder 
Book.     Published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Tales  of  Troy  (De  Garmo). 

The  story  of  the  siege  of  Troy  and  of  the  great  events  of 
Homer's  Iliad.     This  story,  on  account  of  its  complexity, 
we  deem  better  adapted  to  the  fourth  grade.     Published  by 
the  Public  School  Publishing  Co.,  Bloomington,  111. 
Stories  of  the  Old  World  (Church). 

Stories  of  the  Argo,  of  Thebes,  of  Troy,  of  Ulysses,  and 
of  yEneas.     Stories  are  simply  and  well  told.     It  is  a  book 
of  350  pages,  and  would  serve  well  as  a  supplementary  reader 
in  fourth  grade.     Published  by  Ginn  &  Co. 
Gods  and  Heroes  (Francillon) . 

A  successful  effort  to  cover  the  whole  field  of  Greek  my- 
thology in  the  story  form.     Ginn  &  Co. 
The  Tanglewood  Tales  (Nathaniel  Hawthorne). 

A  continuation  of  the  Wonder  Book. 
Heroes  of  Asgard. 

Stories  of  Norse  mythology ;  simple  and  attractive.    Mac- 
millan  &  Co. 
The  Story  of  Ulysses  (Agnes  S.  Cook). 

An  account  of  the  adventures  of  Ulysses,  told  in  connected 

narrative,  in  language  easily  comprehended  by  children  in 

the  third  and  fourth  grades.     Public  School  Publishing  Co., 

Bloomington,  111. 

Old  Norse  Stories  (Bradish). 

Stories  for  reference  and  sight  reading.   American  Book  Co. 
Norse  Stories  (Mabie). 

An  excellent  rendering  of  the  old  stories.     Dodd,  Mead^ 
&Co. 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  105 

Myths  of  Northern  Lands  (Guerber).     American  Book  Co. 

The  Age  of  Fable  (Bulfinch).     Lee  and  Shepard. 

Readings  in  Folk  Lore  (Skinner) .     American  Book  Co. 

National  Epics  (Rabb).     A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

Classic  Myths  (Gayley).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Bryant's  Odyssey.      Complete   poetic  translation.      Houghton, 

Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Bryant's  Iliad.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Butcher  and  Lang's  prose  translation  of  the  Odyssey.    The  Mac- 

millan  Co. 
The  Odyssey  of  Homer  (Palmer).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  prose  translation. 
Myths  and  Myth  Makers  (Fiske) . 
Moral  Instruction  of  Children  (Felix  Adler).    Chapter  X.     D. 

Appleton  &  Co. 

THE    BIBLE    STORIES 

The  stories  of  early  Bible  history  have  been  much 
used  in  all  European  lands,  and  in  America,  for  the 
instruction  of  children.  Among  Jews  and  Christians 
everywhere,  and  even  among  Mohammedans,  these 
stories  have  been  extensively  used.  They  include 
the  simple  accounts  of  the  patriarchs,  Abraham, 
Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  Moses,  Joshua, 
Samson,  Samuel,  and  David.  It  may  be  seen  at  a 
glance  that  no  more  famous  stories  than  these  could 
be  selected  from  the  history  of  any  country  in  the 
world.  They  stand  preeminent  as  graphic  descrip- 
tions of  the  modes  of  life  which  prevailed  in  the  early 
period  of  civilized  races.  The  old  patriarchs  lived  in 
what  is  usually  called  the  pastoral  age,  when  men 
dwelt  in  tents  and  moved  about  from  place  to  place 


106  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

with  their  flocks  in  search  of  pasture.  The  patriarch 
at  the  head  of  the  family,  and  even  of  a  whole  tribe, 
is  the  father,  ruler,  priest,  and  judge  for  the  little 
community  over  which  he  presides.  In  his  person 
there  is  a  simple  union  of  all  the  important  powers 
of  the  later  Hebrew  state.  The  dignity  and  authority 
which  centre  in  the  person  of  Abraham,  together 
with  a  marked  gravity  and  strength  of  character, 
lend  a  distinct  grandeur  to  his  personality,  so  that  he 
has  been  recognized  in  all  ages  as  one  of  the  great 
figures  in  the  history  of  the  world ;  the  foremost  of 
the  old  patriarchs,  —  the  father  of  the  faithful.  A 
similar  respect  and  dignity  attaches  to  all  these  old 
Bible  characters,  and  in  the  case  of  Moses,  rises  to 
a  supreme  height,  while  in  David  the  warrior,  states- 
man, and  poet  are  united  in  one  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced and  pleasing  characters  in  the  world's 
history.  These  old  stories  are  also  unparalleled  in 
the  simplicity  and  transparent  clearness  with  which 
the  life  of  the  pastoral  age  is  depicted.  Human 
nature  comes  out  in  a  series  of  pictures  most  striking 
and  individual,  and  yet  unmistakably  true  to  life  and 
reality.  And  yet  while  this  life  was  so  small  in  its 
compass,  it  is  almost  wholly  free  from  narrowness 
and  provincialism.  The  universal  qualities  of  human 
nature,  common  to  men  in  all  ages  and  countries, 
stand  out  with  a  clearness  which  even  little  children 
can  grasp.  The  story  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren  is 
probably  the  finest  story  that  was  ever  written  for 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  107 

children  from  eight  to  ten  years  of  age.  The  char- 
acters involved  in  this  family  history  are  striking  and 
impressive,  and  the  strength  of  the  family  virtues 
and  affections  has  never  been  set  forth  with  greater 
simplicity  and  power. 

The  heroic  qualities  which  appear  in  the  old  Bible 
stories,  especially  in  Moses,  Samson,  and  David,  would 
bear  a  favorable  comparison  with  the  men  of  the 
heroic  age  in  all  countries.  Strength  of  character 
combined  with  faith  in  high  ideals,  pursued  with 
unwavering  resolution,  is  a  peculiar  merit  of  these 
narratives.  The  heroes  of  the  Hebrew  race  should 
be  compared,  later  on,  with  the  most  renowned 
heroes  of  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  and  Greece, 
and  even  of  America,  for  they  have  common  qualities 
which  have  like  merit  as  educative  materials  for  the 
young. 

This  early  literature  of  the  Bible  stories  will  be 
found  to  contain  a  large  part  of  the  universal  thought 
of  the  world,  that  is,  of  the  masterly  ideas  which, 
because  of  their  superior  truth  and  excellence,  have 
gradually  worked  their  way  as  controlling  principles 
into  the  life  of  all  modern  nations.  It  need  hardly 
be  said  that  these  stories  have  a  peculiar  charm 
and  attractiveness  for  children.  The  simplicity  of  a 
patriarchal  age,  the  strong  interest  in  persons  of 
heroic  quality,  the  descriptions  of  early  childhood, 
the  heroic  deeds  of  bold  and  high-spirited  youth, — 
these  things   command  the   unfaltering  interest  of 


108  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN    READING 

children,  and  at  the  same  time  give  their  lives  a 
touch  of  moral  strength  and  idealism  which  is  of  the 
highest  promise. 

The  oral  treatment  of  these  stories  in  the  third  or 
fourth  year  of  school  is  the  only  mode  of  bringing 
them  before  the  children  in  their  full  power,  and  they 
are  well  adapted  to  easy  oral  narrative  and  discussion. 
The  language  is  the  genuine,  simple,  powerful  old 
English,  and  the  teacher  should  become  thoroughly 
saturated  with  these  simple  words  and  modes  of 
thought.  The  dramatic  element  is  also  not  lacking 
in  many  parts,  and  can  be  well  executed  in  the  class- 
room. Many  opportunities  will  be  furnished  to  the 
children  for  drawing  pictures  illustrating  the  stories. 
Many  of  the  most  famous  masterpieces  of  painting 
and  sculpture  represent  the  persons  and  scenes  of 
these  tales.  The  great  heroes  of  Christian  art  have 
exhausted  their  skill  in  these  representations,  which 
are  now  being  furnished  to  the  schools  by  the  large 
publishing  houses.  Even  the  costumes  and  modes 
of  life  are  thus  brought  home  to  the  children  in  the 
most  realistic  yet  artistic  way. 

An  acquaintance  with  such  early  stories  of  Hebrew 
history  is  an  introduction  to  some  of  the  finest  litera- 
ture of  the  English  language.  First,  that  dealing  with 
the  Hebrew  scriptures  themselves,  as  the  books  of 
Moses,  the  psalms  of  David,  and  second,  a  number  of 
the  great  poems  of  English  masters,  as  the  "  Burial 
of  Moses "  and  Milton's  "Samson  Agonistes."     In 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  IO9 

short,  we  may  say  that  these  stories  are  the  key  to  a 
large  part  of  our  best  English  thought. 

Adler,  in  his  "  Moral  Instruction  of  Children,"  says  : 
"  The  narrative  of  the  Bible  is  fairly  saturated  with 
the  moral  spirit ;  the  moral  issues  are  everywhere  in 
the  forefront.  Duty,  guilt,  and  its  punishment,  the 
conflict  of  conscience  with  inclination,  are  the  lead- 
ing themes.  The  Hebrew  people  seem  to  have  been 
endowed  with  what  may  be  called  *  a  moral  genius/ 
and  especially  did  they  emphasize  the  filial  and  fra- 
ternal duties  to  an  extent  hardly  equalled  elsewhere. 
Now  it  is  precisely  these  duties  that  must  be  im- 
pressed upon  young  children,  and  hence  the  biblical 
stories  present  us  with  the  very  material  we  require. 
They  cannot,  in  this  respect,  be  replaced;  there  is 
no  other  literature  in  the  world  that  offers  what  is 
equal  to  them  in  value  for  the  particular  object  we 
now  have  in  view." 

If  we  could  only  contemplate  the  patriarchal  stories 
as  a  part  of  the  great  literature  of  the  world,  on 
account  of  its  typical  yet  realistic  portraiture  of  men 
and  women,  we  might  use  this  material  as  we  use  the 
very  best  derived  from  other  sources.  Mr.  Adler 
remarks  that  "this  typical  quality  in  Homer's  por- 
traiture has  been  one  secret  of  its  universal  impres- 
siveness.  The  Homeric  outlines  are  in  each  case 
brilliantly  distinct,  while  they  leave  to  the  reader  a 
certain  liberty  of  private  conception,  and  he  can  fill 
them  in  to  satisfy  his  own  ideal.     We  may  add  that 


IIO  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

this  is  just  as  true  of  the  Bible  as  of  Homer.  The 
biblical  narrative,  too,  depicts  a  few  essential  traits  of 
human  nature,  and  refrains  from  multiplying  minor 
traits  which  might  interfere  with  the  main  effect. 
The  Bible,  too,  draws  its  figures  in  outline,  and  leaves 
every  age  free  to  fill  them  in  so  as  to  satisfy  its  own 
ideal.,, 

Moreover,  their  use  is  not  a  matter  of  experiment. 
For  hundreds  of  years  they  have  held  the  first  place 
in  the  best  homes  and  schools  of  Germany,  England, 
and  America,  and  their  educative  influence  has  been 
profoundly  felt  in  all  Christian  nations. 

We  have  several  editions  of  the  stories  adapted 
from  the  Bible  for  school  use.  In  the  Bible  itself 
they  are  not  found  in  the  simple,  connected  form  that 
makes  them  available  for  school  use.  One  of  the 
best  editions  for  school  is  that  published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co.,  called,  "Old  Testament  Stories  in 
Scriptural  Language."  A  free  and  somewhat  origi- 
nal rendering  of  the  stories  is  given  by  Baldwin  in 
his  "  Old  Stories  of  the  East,"  published  by  the 
American  Book  Co.  Both  of  these  books  have  been 
extensively  used  in  the  schools  of  this  country.  The 
oral  treatment  of  the  Bible  stories  in  the  schools  has 
not  been  common  in  this  country,  but  it  has  all  the 
merits  described  by  us  in  the  chapter  on  oral  instruc- 
tion. In  fourth  and  fifth  grades  these  books  may 
serve  well  for  exercises  in  reading. 

In  a  great  many  schools  of  this  country  they  can 


THIRD    GRADE    STORIES  III 

be  used  and  are  used  without  giving  offence  to  any- 
body, and  where  this  is  true,  they  well  deserve  recog- 
nition in  our  school  course  because  of  their  superior 
presentation  of  some  of  the  great  universal  ideas  of 
our  civilization. 

BOOKS   FOR   TEACHERS   OF   BIBLE   LITERATURE 

The  Modern  Reader's  Bible,  twenty-one  volumes  (Richard  Moul- 

ton).     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Children's  Series.     Old  Testament  and  New  Testament  Stories. 

In  two  volumes.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Stories  from  the  Bible  (Church).     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Story  of  the  Chosen  People  (Guerber).     The  American  Book  Co. 
The  Literary  Study  of  the  Bible  (Moulton).    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Method  in  Primary  Reading 

The  problem  of  primary  reading  is  one  of  the  most 
complex  and  difficult  in  the  whole  range  of  school 
instruction.  A  large  proportion  of  the  finest  skill 
and  sympathy  of  teachers  has  been  expended  in 
efforts  to  find  the  appropriate  and  natural  method  of 
teaching  children  to  read.  All  sorts  of  methods  and 
devices  have  been  employed,  from  the  most  formal 
and  mechanical  to  the  most  spirited  and  realistic. 

The  first  requisite  to  good  reading  is  something 
worth  reading,  something  valuable  and  interesting  to 
the  children,  and  adapted  to  their  minds.  We  must 
take  it  for  granted  in  this  discussion  that  the  best 
literature  and  the  best  stories  have  been  selected,  and 
what  the  teacher  has  to  do  is,  first,  to  appreciate 
these  masterpieces  for  herself,  and  second,  to  bring 
the  children  in  the  reading  lessons  to  appreciate 
and  enjoy  them.  In  the  primary  grades  we  are  not 
so  richly  supplied  with  available  materials  from  good 
literature  as  in  intermediate  and  grammar  grades. 
This  is  due  not  to  difficulty  in  thought,  but  to  the 
unfamiliar  written  and  printed  forms.  The  great 
problem  in  primary  reading  is  to  master  these  strange 
forms  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  find  entrance  to  the 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  II3 

story-land  of  books.  For  several  years,  however,  pri- 
mary teachers  have  been  selecting  and  adapting 
the  best  stories,  and  some  of  the  leading  publishers 
have  brought  out  in  choice  school-book  form  books 
which  are  well  adapted  to  the  reading  of  primary 
grades. 

We  should  like  to  assume  one  other  advantage. 
If  the  children  have  been  treated  orally  to  "  Robinson 
Crusoe  "  in  the  second  grade,  they  will  appreciate  and 
read  the  story  much  better  in  the  third  grade.  If 
some  of  Grimm's  stories  are  told  in  first  grade,  they 
can  be  read  with  ease  in  the  second  grade.  The 
teacher's  oral  presentation  of  the  stories  is  the  right 
way  to  bring  them  close  to  the  life  and  interest  of 
children.  In  the  first  grade,  as  shown  in  the  chapter 
on  oral  lessons,  it  is  the  only  way,  because  the  chil- 
dren cannot  yet  read.  But  even  if  they  could  read,  the 
oral  treatment  is  much  better.  The  oral  presentation 
is  more  lively,  natural,  and  realistic.  The  teacher 
can  adapt  the  story  and  the  language  to  the  im- 
mediate needs  of  the  class  as  no  author  can.  She 
can  question,  or  suggest  lines  of  thought,  or  call  up 
ideas  from  the  children's  experience.  The  oral  man- 
ner is  the  true  way  to  let  the  children  delve  into  the 
rich  culture-content  of  stories  and  to  awaken  a  taste 
for  their  beauty  and  truth.  We  could  well  wish  that 
before  children  read  mythical  stories  in  fourth  grade, 
they  had  been  stirred  up  to  enjoy  them  by  oral  narra- 
tion and  discussion  in  the   preceding  year.     In  the 


114  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

same  way,  if  the  reading  bears  on  interesting  science 
topics  previously  studied,  it  will  be  a  distinct  advan- 
tage to  the  reading  lesson.  Children  like  to  read 
about  things  that  have  previously  excited  their  inter- 
est, whether  in  story  or  science.  The  difficulties  of 
formal  reading  will  also  be  partly  overcome  by  famili- 
arity with  the  harder  names  and  words.  Our  con- 
clusion is  that  reading  lessons,  alone,  cannot  provide 
all  the  conditions  favorable  to  good  reading.  Some 
of  these  can  be  well  supplied  by  other  studies  or  by 
preliminary  lessons  which  pave  the  way  for  the  read- 
ing proper.  This  matter  has  been  so  fully  discussed 
in  the  earlier  chapters  on  oral  work  that  it  requires 
no  further  treatment  here. 

FOLK-LORE   STORIES   AS    READING   EXERCISES    FOR 
FIRST    GRADE 

Let  it  be  supposed  that  a  class  of  first-grade  chil- 
dren has  learned  to  tell  a  certain  story  orally.  It  has 
interested  them  and  stirred  up  their  thought. 

Let  them  next  learn  to  read  the  same  story  in 
a  very  simple  form.  This  will  lead  to  a  series  of 
elementary  reading  lessons  in  connection  with  the 
story,  and  the  aim  should  be  strictly  that  of  master- 
ing the  early  difficulties  of  reading.  The  teacher 
recalls  the  story,  and  asks  for  a  statement  from  its 
beginning.  If  the  sentence  furnished  by  the  child  is 
simple  and  suitable,  the  teacher  writes  it  on  the  black- 
board in   plain   large   script.     Each    child   reads  it 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  115 

through  and  points  out  the  words.  Let  there  be  a 
lively  drill  upon  the  sentence  till  the  picture  of  each 
word  becomes  clear  and  distinct  During  the  first 
lesson,  two  or  three  short  sentences  can  be  handled 
with  success.  As  new  words  are  learned,  they  should 
be  mixed  up  on  the  board  with  those  learned  before, 
and  a  quick  and  varied  drill  on  the  words  in  sentences 
or  in  columns  be  employed  to  establish  the  forms  in 
memory.1  Speed,  variety  in  device,  and  watchfulness 
to  keep  all  busy  and  attentive  are  necessary  to  secure 
good  results. 

After  a  few  lessons  one  or  two  of  the  simpler 
words  may  be  taken  for  phonetic  analysis.  The 
simple  sounds  are  associated  with  the  letters  that 
represent  them.  These  familiar  letters  are  later  met 
and  identified  in  new  words,  and,  as  soon  as  a 
number  of  sounds  with  their  symbols  have  been 
learned,  new  words  can  be  constructed  and  pro- 
nounced from  these  known  elements. 

The  self-activity  of  the  children  in  recognizing  the 
elementary  sounds,  already  met,  in  new  words  as  fast 
as  they  come  up,  is  one  of  the  chief  merits  of  this 
early  study  of  words.  They  thus  early  learn  the 
power  of  self-help  and  of  confident  reliance  upon 
themselves  in  acquiring  and  using  knowledge.  The 
chief  difficulty  is  in  telling  which  sound  to  use,  as  a 
letter  often  has  several  sounds  (as  a,  e,  s,  c,  etc.).     But 

1  First-class  primary  teachers  claim  that  drills  are  unnecessary  if  the 
teacher  is  skilful  in  recombining  the  old  words  in  new  sentences. 


Il6  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

the  children  are  capable  of  testing  the  known  sounds 
of  a  letter  upon  a  new  word,  and  in  most  cases,  of 
deciding  which  to  use.  The  thoughtless  habit  of 
pronouncing  every  new  word  for  a  child,  without 
effort  on  his  part,  checks  and  spoils  his  interest  and 
self-activity.  It  does  not  seem  necessary  to  use  an 
extensive  system  of  diacritical  markings  to  guide  him 
in  these  efforts  to  discriminate  sounds.  It  is  better 
to  use  the  marks  as  little  as  possible  and  learn  to 
interpret  words  as  they  usually  appear  in  print. 
Experience  has  shown  decisively  that  a  lively  and 
vigorous  self-activity  is  manifested  by  such  early 
efforts  in  learning  to  read.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
encouraging  signs  in  education  to  see  little  children 
in  their  first  efforts  to  master  the  formal  art  of  read- 
ing, showing  this  spirited  self-reliant  energy. 

In  the  same  way,  they  recognize  old  words  in 
sentences  and  new  or  changed  combinations  of  old 
forms,  and  begin  to  read  new  sentences  which  com- 
bine old  words  in  new  relations. 

In  short,  the  sentence,  word,  and  phonic  methods 
are  all  used  in  fitting  alternation,  while  originality  and 
variety  of  device  are  necessary  in  the  best  exercise  of 
teaching  power. 

The  processes  of  learning  to  read  by  such  board- 
script  work  are  partly  analytic  and  partly  synthetic. 
Children  begin  with  sentences,  analyze  them  into 
words,  and  some  of  the  words  into  their  simple 
sounds.     But    when    these   sounds    begin   to   grow 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  117 

familiar,  they  are  identified  again  in  other  words, 
thus  combining  them  into  new  forms.  In  the  same 
way,  words  once  learned  by  the  analytic  study  of 
sentences  are  recognized  again  in  new  sentences,  and 
thus  interpreted  in  new  relations. 

The  short  sentences,  derived  from  a  familiar  story, 
when  ranged  together  supply  a  brief,  simple  outline 
of  the  story.  If  now  this  series  of  sentences  be 
written  on  the  board  or  printed  on  slips  of  paper, 
the  whole  story  may  be  reviewed  by  the  class  from 
day  to  day  till  the  word  and  sentence  forms  are  well 
mastered.  For  making  these  printed  slips,  some 
teachers  use  a  small  printing-press,  or  a  typewriter. 
Eventually  several  stories  may  be  collected  and 
sewed  together,  so  as  to  form  a  little  reading-book 
which  is  the  result  of  the  constructive  work  of 
teacher   and   pupils. 

The  reading  lessons  just  described  are  entirely 
separate  from  the  oral  treatment  and  reproduction  of 
the  stories ;  yet  the  thought  and  interest  awakened 
in  the  oral  work  are  helpful  in  keeping  up  a  lively 
effort  in  the  reading  class.  The  thought  material  in 
a  good  story  is  itself  a  mental  stimulus,  and  produces 
a  wakefulness  which  is  favorable  to  imprinting  the 
forms  as  well  as  the  content  of  thought.  Expression, 
also,  that  is,  natural  and  vivid  rendering  of  the 
thought,  is  always  aimed  at  in  reading,  and  springs 
spontaneously  from  interesting  thought  studies. 

Many  teachers  use  the  materials  furnished  by  oral 


Il8  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

lessons  in  natural  science  as  a  similar  introduction  to 
reading  in  first  grade.  The  science  lessons  furnish 
good  thought  matter  for  simple  sentences,  and  there 
is  good  reason  why,  in  learning  to  read,  children 
should  use  sentences  drawn  both  from  literature  and 
from  natural  science. 

READING   IN   THE   SECOND    GRADE 

The  oral  lessons  in  good  stories,  and  the  later 
board-use  of  these  materials  in  learning  the  elements 
of  formal  reading,  are  an  excellent  preparation  for 
the  fuller  and  more  extended  reading  of  similar 
matter  in  the  second  and  third  grades. 

When  the  oral  work  of  the  first  grade  has  thus 
kindled  the  fancy  of  a  child  upon  these  charming 
pictures,  and  the  later  board-work  has  acquainted 
him  with  letter  and  word  symbols  which  express  such 
thought,  the  reading  of  the  same  and  other  stories  of 
like  character  (a  year  later)  will  follow  as  an  easy 
and  natural  sequence.  As  a  preliminary  to  all  good 
reading  exercises,  there  should  be  rich  and  fruitful 
thought  adapted  to  the  age  of  children.  The  realm 
of  classic  folk-lore  contains  abundant  thought  mate- 
rial peculiar  in  its  fitness  to  awaken  the  interest  and 
fancy  of  children  in  the  first  two  grades.  To  bring 
these  choice  stories  close  to  the  hearts  of  children 
should  be  the  aim  of  much  of  the  work  in  both  these 
grades.  Such  an  aim,  skilfully  carried  out,  not  only 
conduces  to  the  joy  of  children  in   first  grade,  but 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  1 1 9 

infuses  the  reading  lessons  of  second  grade  with 
thought  and  culture  of  the  best  quality. 

Interest  and  vigor  of  thought  are  certain  to  help 
right  expression  and  reading.  Reading,  like  every 
other  study,  should  be  based  upon  realities.  When 
there  is  real  thought  and  feeling  in  the  children,  a 
correct  expression  of  them  is  more  easily  secured 
than  by  formal  demands  or  by  intimidation. 

The  stories  to  be  read  in  second  or  third  grade 
may  be  fuller  and  longer  than  the  brief  outline  sen- 
tences used  for  board-work  in  the  first  grade. 
Besides,  these  tales,  being  classic  and  of  permanent 
value,  do  not  lose  their  charm  by  repetition. 

METHOD 

By  oral  reading,  we  mean  the  giving  of  the 
thought  obtained  from  a  printed  page  to  others 
through  the  medium  of  the  voice. 

There  is  first  the  training  of  the  eye  in  taking  in  a 
number  of  words  at  a  glance — a  mechanical  process; 
then  the  interpretation  of  these  groups  of  words  — 
a  mental  process;  next  the  making  known  of  the 
ideas  thus  obtained  to  others,  by  means  of  the  voice 
— also  a  mechanical  process. 

The  children  need  special  help  in  each  step.  We 
are  apt  to  overdo  one  at  the  expense  of  the  others. 

1.  Eye-training  is  the  foundation  of  all  good  read- 
ing. Various  devices  are  resorted  to  in  obtaining  it. 
We  will  suggest  a  few,  not  new  at  all,  but  useful. 


120  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

(a)  A  strip  of  cardboard,  on  which  is  a  clause  or 
sentence,  is  held  before  the  class,  for  a  moment  only, 
and  then  removed.  The  length  of  the  task  is  in- 
creased as  the  eye  becomes  trained  to  this  kind  of 
work. 

(b)  The  children  open  their  books  at  a  signal  from 
the  teacher,  glance  through  a  line,  or  part  of  one, 
indicated  by  the  teacher,  close  book  at  once  and  give 
the  line. 

(c)  The  teacher  places  on  the  board  clauses  or 
sentences  bearing  on  the  lesson,  and  covers  with  a 
map.  The  map  is  rolled  up  to  show  one  of  these, 
which  is  almost  immediately  erased.  The  children 
are  then  asked  to  give  it.  The  map  is  then  rolled 
up  higher,  exposing  another,  which  also  is  speedily 
erased  —  and  so  on  until  all  have  been  given  to  the 
children  and  erased. 

2.  The  child  needs  not  only  to  be  able  to  recognize 
groups  of  words,  but  he  must  be  able  to  get  thought 
from  them.  The  following  are  some  devices  to  that 
end:  — 

(a)  Suggestive  pictures  can  be  made  use  of  to 
advantage  all  through  the  primary  grades.  If  the 
child  reads  part  of  the  story  in  the  picture,  and  finds 
it  interesting,  he  will  want  to  read  from  the  printed 
page  the  part  not  given  in  the  picture. 

(b)  Where  there  is  no  picture  —  or  even  where 
there  is  one  —  an  aim  may  be  useful  to  arouse  interest 
in  the  thought,  i.e.  a  thoughtful  question  may  be  put 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  121 

by  the  teacher,  which  the  children  can  answer  only 
by  reading  the  story;  e.g.  in  the  supplementary 
reader,  "  Easy  Steps  for  Little  Feet,"  is  found  the 
story  of  "  The  Pin  and  Needle."  There  is  no  picture. 
The  teacher  says,  as  the  class  are  seated :  "  Now  we 
have  a  story  about  a  big  quarrel  between  a  pin  and  a 
needle  over  the  question,  'Which  one  is  the  better 
fellow  ? '  Of  what  could  the  needle  boast  ?  Of  what 
the  pin  ?     Let  us  see  which  won." 

(c)  Let  all  the  pupils  look  through  one  or  more 
paragraphs,  reading  silently,  to  get  the  thought, 
before  any  one  is  called  upon  to  read  aloud.  If  a 
child  comes  to  a  word  that  he  does  not  know,  during 
the  silent  reading,  the  teacher  helps  him  to  get  it  — 
from  the  context  if  possible  —  if  not,  by  the  sounds 
of  the  letters  which  compose  it. 

As  each  child  finishes  the  task  assigned,  he  raises 
his  eyes  from  the  book,  showing  by  this  act  that  he 
is  ready  to  tell  what  he  has  just  read.  The  thought 
may  be  given  by  the  child  in  his  own  language  to 
assure  the  teacher  that  he  has  it.  Usually,  however, 
in  the  lower  grades,  this  is  unnecessary,  the  language 
of  the  book  being  nearly  as  simple  as  his  own. 

The  advantage  of  having  all  the  pupils  kept  busy, 
instead  of  one  alone  who  might  be  called  upon  to 
read  the  paragraph,  is  evident.  Every  child  reads 
silently  all  of  the  lesson.  Time  would  not  permit 
that  this  be  done  orally,  were  it  advisable  to  do  so. 
When  the  child  gets  up  to  read,  he  is  not  likely  to 


122  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

stumble,  for  he  has  both  the  thought  and  the  expres- 
sion for  it,  at  the  start. 

While  aiming  to  have  the  children  comprehend  the 
thought,  the  teacher  should  not  forget,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  this  is  the  reading  hour,  and  not  the  time 
for  much  oral  instruction  and  reproduction.  There 
are  other  recitations  in  which  the  phild  is  trained  to 
free  oral  expression  of  thought,  as  in  science  and 
literature.  Such  offhand  oral  expression  of  his  own 
ideas  is  not  the  primary  aim  of  the  reading  lesson. 
Its  purpose  is  to  lend  life  to  the  recitation. 

3.  Steps  1  and  2  deal  with  preparation  for  the  read- 
ing. Up  to  this  time,  no  oral  reading  has  been  done. 
Now  we  are  ready  to  begin. 

Children  will  generally  express  the  thought  with 
the  proper  emphasis  if  they  not  only  see  its  meaning 
but  also  feel  it.  Suppose  the  children  are  interested 
in  the  thought  of  the  piece,  they  still  fail,  sometimes, 
to  give  the  proper  emphasis.  How  can  the  teacher, 
by  questioning,  get  them  to  realize  the  more  important 
part  of  the  thought  ? 

{a)  The  teacher  has  gone  deeper  into  the  mean- 
ing than  have  the  children.  Her  questions  should 
be  such  as  to  make  real  to  the  children  the  more 
emphatic  part  of  the  thought;  e.g.  in  the  Riverside 
Primer  we  have,  "  Poor  Bun,  good  dog,  did  you  think 
I  meant  to  hit  you  ? "  John  reads,  "  Do  you  think  I 
meant  to  hit  you?"  The  teacher  says,  "I  will  be 
Bun,  John.     What  is  it  that  you  do  not  want  Bun  to 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  123 

think  ? "  ("  That  I  meant  to  hit  him.")  "  But  you 
did  mean  to  hit  something.  What  was  it  you  did  not 
mean  to  hit  ?  Tell  Bun."  ("  I  did  not  mean  to  hit 
you."\  Now  ask  him  if  he  thought  that  you  did. 
("  Did  you  think  I  meant  to  hit  you  ?") 

(b)  When  the  story  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue, 
the  children  may  personate  the  characters  in  the 
story.  Thus,  getting  into  the  real  spirit  of  the  piece, 
their  emphasis  will  naturally  fall  where  it  properly 
belongs. 

(e)  Sometimes  the  teacher  will  find  it  necessary  to 
show  the  child  how  to  read  a  passage  properly,  by 
reading  it  himself.  It  is  seldom  best  to  do  this  — 
certainly  not  if  the  correct  expression  can  be  reached 
through  questioning. 

Many  a  teacher  makes  a  practice  of  giving  the 
proper  emphasis  to  the  child,  he  copying  it  from  her 
voice.  Frequently,  children  taught  in  this  way  can 
read  one  piece  after  another  in  their  readers  with 
excellent  expression,  but,  when  questioned,  show  that 
their  minds  are  a  blank  as  to  the  meaning  of  what 
they  are  reading. 

In  working  for  expression,  a  great  many  teachers 
waste  the  time  and  energy  of  the  pupils  by  indefinite 
directions.  The  emphasis  is  not  correctly  placed,  so 
the  teacher  says,  "  I  do  not  like  that ;  try  it  again, 
May."  Now,  May  has  no  idea  in  what  particular  she 
has  failed,  so  she  gives  it  again,  very  likely  as  she 
gave  it  before,  or  she  may  put  the  emphasis  on  some 


124  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

other  word,  hoping  by  so  doing  to  please  the  teacher. 
"  Why,  no,  May,  you  surely  can  do  better  than  that," 
says  the  teacher.  So  May  makes  another  fruitless 
attempt,  when  the  teacher,  disgusted,  calls  on  another 
pupil  to  show  her  how  to  read.  May  has  gained  no 
clearer  insight  into  the  thought  than  she  started  out 
with,  no  power  to  grapple  more  successfully  with  a 
similar  difficulty  another  time,  and  has  lost,  partly 
at  least,  her  interest  in  the  piece.  She  has  been 
bothered  and  discouraged,  and  the  class  wearied. 

Sometimes  when  the  expression  is  otherwise  good, 
the  children  pitch  their  voices  too  high  or  too  low. 
Natural  tones  must  be  insisted  upon.  A  good  aid  to 
the  children  in  this  respect  is  the  habitual  example  of 
quiet,  clear  tones  in  the  teacher. 

Another  fault  of  otherwise  good  reading  is  a  fail- 
ure to  enunciate  distinctly.  Children  are  inclined  to 
slight  many  sounds,  especially  at  the  end  of  the 
words,  and  the  teacher  is  apt  to  think  :  "  That  doesn't 
make  so  very  much  difference,  since  they  are  only 
children.  When  they  are  older  they  will  see  that 
their  pronunciation  is  babyish,  and  adopt  a  correct 
form."  This  is  unsound  reasoning.  Every  time  the 
child  says  las  for  last  he  is  establishing  more  firmly 
a  habit,  to  overcome  which  will  give  him  much 
difficulty. 

In  the  pronunciation  of  words  as  well  as  in  the 
reading  of  a  sentence,  much  time  is  wasted  through 
failure  to  point  out  the  exact  word,  and  the  syllable 


Ill 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  125 

in  the  word,  in  which  the  mistake  has  been  made, 
he  child  cannot  improve  unless  he  knows  in  what 
articular  there  is  room  for  improvement. 
Children  in  primary  grades  should  be  supplied  with 
a  good  variety  of  primers,  readers,  and  simple  story 
books.  In  the  course  of  their  work  they  should  read 
through  a  number  of  first,  second,  and  third  readers. 
Much  of  this  reading  should  be  simple  and  easy,  so 
that  they  can  move  rapidly  through  a  book,  and  gain 
confidence  and  satisfaction  from  it.  In  each  grade 
there  should  be  several  sets  of  readers,  which  can  be 
turned  to  as  the  occasion  may  demand.  It  is  much 
better  to  read  a  new  reader,  involving  in  the  main  the 
same  vocabulary,  than  to  reread  an  old  book.  This 
use  of  several  books  in  each  grade  adds  to  the  interest 
and  reduces  to  a  minimum  the  mere  drills,  which  are 
to  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible. 

SUMMARY 

I.  Let  children  read  under  the  impulse  of  strong 
and  interesting  thought. 

(a)  The  previous  oral  treatment  of  the  stories 
now  used  as  reading  lessons  will  help  this  thought 
impulse. 

(6)  An  aim  concretely  stated,  and  touching  an  inter- 
esting thought  in  the  lesson,  will  give  impetus  to  the 
work. 

(c)  Let  children  pass  judgment  on  the  truth,  worth, 
or  beauty  of  what  they  read. 


i 


126  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

(d)  Clear  mental  pictures  of  people,  actions,  places, 
etc.,  conduce  to  vigor  of  thought.  To  this  end  the 
teacher  should  use  good  pictures,  make  sketches,  and 
give  descriptions  or  explanations.  Children  should 
also  be  allowed  to  sketch  freely  at  the  board. 

2.  Children  should  be  encouraged  constantly  to 
help  themselves  in  interpreting  new  words  and  sen- 
tences in  reading. 

(a)  By  looking  through  the  new  sentence  and  mak- 
ing it  out,  if  possible,  for  themselves  before  any  one 
reads  it  aloud. 

(b)  By  analyzing  a  new  word  into  its  sounds,  and 
then  combining  them  to  get  its  pronunciation. 

(c)  By  interpreting  a  new  word  from  its  context,  or 
by  the  first  sound  or  syllable. 

(d)  By  using  the  new  powers  of  the  letters  as  fast 
as  they  are  learned  in  interpreting  new  words. 

(e)  By  trying  the  different  sounds  of  a  letter  to  a 
new  word  to  see  which  seems  to  fit  best. 

(/)  By  recognizing  familiar  words  in  new  sentences 
with  a  different  context. 

(g)  See  that  every  child  reads  the  sentences  in  the 
new  lesson  for  himself. 

3.  There  should  be  a  gradual  introduction  to  the 
elementary  sounds  (powers  of  the  letters). 

The  first  words  analyzed  should  be  simple  and 
phonetic  in  spelling,  as  dog,  hen,  cat,  etc. 

New  sounds  of  letters  are  taught  as  the  children 
need  them  in  studying  out  new  words. 


METHOD    IN    PRIMARY    READING  1 27 

Very  little  attention  needs  to  be  given  to  learning 
the  names  of  the  letters. 

There  need  be  little  use  of  diacritical  markings  in 
early  reading. 

4.  Many  of  the  new  words  will  occur  in  connection 
with  the  picture  at  the  head  of  the  lesson.  Place 
these  on  the  board  as  they  come  up. 

If  the  teacher  will  weave  these  words  into  her  conver- 
sation, they  will  give  the  children  little  future  trouble. 

5.  All  the  different  phases  of  the  phonic,  word,  and 
sentence  method  should  be  woven  together  by  a  skil- 
ful teacher. 

6.  The  close  attention  of  all  the  members  of  the 
class,  so  that  each  reads  through  the  whole  lesson, 
should  be  an  ever-present  aim  of  the  teacher. 

7.  Children  should  be  trained  to  grasp  several 
words  at  a  glance :  — 

(a)  By  quick  writing  and  erasure  of  words  and 
sentences  at  the  board. 

1  {b)  By  exposing  for  an  instant  sentences  covered 
by  a  screen. 

(c)  By  the  use  of  phrases  or  short  sentences  on 
cardboard. 

(d)  By  questions  for  group  thought. 

These  tests  should  increase  in  difficulty  with  grow- 
ing skill. 

8.  Spend  but  little  time  in  the  oral  reproduction  of 
stories.  Practice  in  good  reading  and  interpretation 
is  the  main  thing. 


128         SPEdAL  METHOD  IN  READING 

9.  Children,  from  the  first,  should  be  encouraged 
to  articulate  distinctly  in  oral  reading.  Let  the 
teacher  begin  at  home. 

10.  Let  the  teacher  cultivate  a  pleasing  tone  of 
voice,  not  loud  or  harsh.  This  will  help  the  children 
to  the  same. 

n.  Vigorous  and  forcible  expression  is  secured  :  — 

(a)  By  having  interesting  stories. 

{b)  By  apt  questions  to  bring  out  the  emphatic 
thought. 

(c)  By  dramatizing  the  scenes  of  the  story. 

(d)  By  occasional  examples  of  lively  reading  by 
the  teacher. 

(e)  By  definiteness  in  questioning. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Exercises  and  Lessons 

Based  on  School  Movements ',  Studies,  and  Games 

In  order  to  bring  reading  exercises  into  close  con- 
nection with  child  interests  and  activities,  the  board 
work  should  make  use  of  the  opportunities  offered 
by  the  ordinary  movements  and  games  of  the  school. 
The  following  lessons  illustrate  this  plan. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  more  closely  the  written  or 
printed  words  and  sentences  are  related  to  the  chil- 
dren's activities,  or  the  more  dependent  these  activi- 
ties are  made  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  word-forms, 
the  quicker  and  more  natural  will  be  their  mastery. 
To  put  it  briefly,  the  teacher  abstains  from  the  use  of 
oral  speech  to  a  considerable  extent  and  substitutes 
the  written  forms  of  the  words  on  the  blackboard  in 
giving  directions,  in  games,  and  in  treating  topics 
in  literature  and  science.  The  following  chapter  is 
taken  wholly  from  the  lessons  given  by  Mrs.  Lida  B. 
McMurry  in  the  first  grade.  Many  other  similar 
lessons  were  worked  out,  but  these  are  probably 
sufficient  fully  to  illustrate  the  plan. 
k  129 


130  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

The  teacher's  aim  in  the  beginning  reading  is  to 
lead  the  child  to  look  to  the  lesson,  either  word  or 
sentence  or  paragraph,  to  find  what  it  has  to  say  to 
him  —  to  present  the  lesson  in  such  a  way  that  the 
child  shall  quicken  into  life  in  its  presence  —  shall 
reach  forward  to  grasp  this  much-desired  thing.  The 
attention  of  the  child  is  centred  on  the  thought ;  he 
grasps  the  symbols  because  he  must  reach,  through 
them,  the  thought. 

Much  of  the  early  reading  can  be  taught  in  a 
purely  incidental  way  —  in  the  general  exercises  of 
the  school  and  in  the  literature  and  nature-study 
recitations. 

READING   TAUGHT    INCIDENTALLY 

(a)  In  the  General  Management  of  the  School.  The 
directions  which  are  at  first  given  to  children  orally, 
e.g.,  rise,  turn,  pass,  sit,  skip,  fly,  march,  run,  walk, 
pass  to  the  front,  pass  to  the  back,  are  later  written 
upon  the  board.  When  the  children  seem  to  have 
become  familiar  with  the  written  direction,  the 
order  in  which  the  directions  are  given  is  some- 
times changed,  as  a  test,  e.g.,  the  following  direc- 
tions are  usually  given  in  this  order — turn,  rise,  pass. 
Instead  of  writing  turn  first,  the  teacher  writes  pass. 
If  the  children  understand,  they  will  rise  at  once  and 
pass  without  waiting  to  turn. 

The  names  of  the  children,  instead  of  being  spoken, 
are  often  written;  in  this  way  the  children  become 


EXERCISES    AND    LESSONS  I3I 

familiar  with  the  names  of  all  the  children  in  the 
school.  The  teacher,  writing  Clarence  upon  the  board, 
says,  "  I  would  like  this  boy  to  erase  the  boards 
to-night."  The  first  time  it  is  written  the  teacher 
speaks  the  name  as  she  writes  it.  It  may  be  neces- 
sary to  do  this  several  times.  The  teacher  does  not 
look  at  Clarence  as  she  writes  his  name.  If  he  does 
not  recognize  his  name  after  it  has  appeared  repeat- 
edly, his  eyesight  may  well  be  tested.  If  heedless- 
ness is  the  cause  of  the  failure,  another  name  is 
written  at  the  board,  and  Clarence  loses  the  opportu- 
nity to  do  the  service.  No  drill  should  be  given  on 
these  names.  The  repetition  incident  to  the  frequent 
calling  upon  the  child  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  fix 
the  name. 

The  names  of  the  songs  and  of  the  poems  which 
the  children  are  memorizing  are  written  upon  the 
board  as  needed.  The  teacher  says,  "  We  will  sing 
this  song  this  morning."  If  the  children  do  not 
recognize  its  title  as  the  teacher  points  to  it,  she 
gives  it.  After  a  while  the  children  will  recognize 
the  names  of  all  the  songs  and  the  poems  which 
are  in  use  in  the  room. 

The  children  become  familiar  with  the  written 
form  of  the  smaller  numbers  in  this  way  —  the 
number  of  absent  children  is  reported  at  each 
session  and  written  on  the  board.  On  Friday  the 
teacher  records  upon  the  board  some  facts  of  the 
week,  or  of  the  month,  which  the  children  learned 


132  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

from  their  weather  charts  —  viz.,  the  number  of 
sunny  and  the  number  of  cloudy  days.  The  number 
of  children  in  each  row  is  ascertained  and  written  at 
the  board  that  the  monitors  may  know  how  many 
pairs  of  scissors,  pieces  of  clay,  or  pencils  to  select. 

The  poems,  after  being  partially  committed  to 
memory,  are  written  upon  the  board ;  when  the 
pupils  falter,  reference  is  made  to  the  line  in  ques- 
tion as  it  appears  upon  the  board. 

The  teacher  sometimes  writes  her  morning  greet- 
ing or  evening  farewell  at  the  board  —  thus :  "  Good 
morning,  children,"  or,  "Good-by  for  to-day."  The 
children  read  silently  and  respond  with,  "  Good  morn- 
ing, Miss  Eades,"  or,  "  Good  night,  Miss  Farr." 

Often  she  communicates  facts  of  interest  at  the 
board.  If  the  pupils  are  unable  to  interpret  what 
she  has  written,  she  reads  for  them,  e.g.,  the  teacher 
writes,  "  We  have  vacation  to-morrow."  Quite  likely 
some  child,  unable  to  read  at  all,  will  say,  "  We  have 
something,  but  I  can't  tell  what  it  is."  (These  same 
words  will  occur  again,  when  needed  to  express  a 
thought,  and  it  is  a  waste  of  energy  to  drill  upon 
them.)  When  the  children  have  interpreted  the 
above  sentence  at  the  board,  the  teacher  writes,  "  Do 
you  know  why  ? "  The  children  read  the  question 
silently  and  give  the  answer  audibly,  and  say,  "  It  is 
Decoration  Day."  We  too  often  allow  children  to 
treat  a  question  in  their  reading  as  if  its  end  were 
reached  in  the  asking.     To  lead  the  children  to  form 


EXERCISES   AND    LESSONS  1 33 

a  habit  of  answering  questions  asked  in  writing  or  in 
print,  such  questions  as  the  following  are,  from  time 
to  time,  written  at  the  board  :  "  Did  you  see  the  rain- 
bow last  night  ? "  "  What  color  was  it  ? "  "  Did  you 
see  any  birds  on  Saturday ?"  "What  ones  ?"  "Have 
you  been  to  the  woods  ?"    "  What  did  you  find  there  ? " 

(b)  In  Connection  with  the  Literature.  The  name 
of  the  story  which  the  teacher  is  about  to  tell  is 
placed  upon  the  board.  At  the  first  writing  the 
teacher  tells  the  pupils  what  it  is,  if  necessary,  e.g., 
the  teacher  says,  "We  shall  have  a  story  about  'The 
Three  Bears,' "  pointing  to  the  title  upon  the  board. 
The  next  day  she  says,  "  I  would  like  you  to  tell  me 
all  you  can  about  this  story  "  —  writing  its  name  upon 
the  board. 

In  the  final  reproduction  of  the  story  the  teacher 
assigns  topics,  e.g.:  Chauncey  may  tell  me  about 
this  (writing  at  the  board):  Silver-Hair  going  to 
the  woods.  Eva  may  tell  about  this:  Silver-Hair 
going  into  the  kitchen.  Jennie  may  tell  about  this : 
Silver-Hair  going  into  the  sitting  room.  Willie  may 
tell  about  this  :  Silver-Hair  going  upstairs.  Should 
the  child  go  beyond  the  limited  topic,  the  teacher 
points  to  the  board  and  asks  about  what  he  was  to 
tell. 

At  the  close  of  each  story  that  can  be  dramatized, 
the  teacher  assigns  at  the  board  the  part  which  each 
is  to  take,  thus  :  After  the  story  of  "  The  Old  Woman 
and  the  Pig"  is  learned,  the  teacher  writes  in  a  col- 


134  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

umn  each  child's  name  opposite  the  animal  or  thing 
which  he  is  to  represent,  in  this  way. 

Agnes  —  the  old  woman. 

Glenn  —  the  pig. 

Sadie  —  the  dog,  etc. 

(c)  In  Connection  with  the  Nature  Study.  In  the 
spring  the  children  are  looking  for  the  return  of  the 
birds,  the  first  spring  blossoms,  and  the  opening  of 
the  tree  buds.  The  teacher  often  makes  her  own  dis- 
coveries known  through  writing,  upon  the  board,  e.g., 
"  I  saw  a  robin  this  morning,"  or  "  I  found  a  blue 
violet  yesterday,"  or  "I  saw  some  elm  blossoms  last 
night." 

The  class,  by  the  aid  of  the  teacher,  makes  a  bird, 
a  flower,  and  a  tree-bud  calendar,  on  which  are  re- 
corded the  name  and  date  of  the  first  seen  of  each. 
These  names  are  put  on  the  calendars  in  the  presence 
of  the  children,  and  they  frequently  "name  their 
treasures  o'er." 

The  mode  of  travelling  is  written  beside  the  name 
of  each  familiar  bird  as  the  children  make  the  dis- 
coveries, thus :  — 

Robin  \  runs.  Crow  \  n. 

(flies.  ^flleS- 

Questions  arise  during  the  recitation  which  the 
children  will  answer  later  from  observation.  That 
the  children  may  not  forget  them  they  are  placed 
high  up  on  the  board  where  they  can  be  preserved. 


EXERCISES    AND    LESSONS  1 35 

Frequent  reference  is  made  to  them  to  see  if  the 
pupils  are  prepared  to  answer  them.  When  a  ques- 
tion is  answered  it  is  erased,  making  room  for  another. 

THE   READING   RECITATION 

For  the  early  reading,  Games,  Literature,  and 
Nature  Study  may  form  the  basis. 

(I)  Games  as  a  Basis  for  the  Reading.  The  child 
enters  school  from  a  life  of  play.  It  is  our  purpose, 
so  far  as  possible,  to  make  use  of  this  natural  bent  of 
the  child  to  insure  interest  in  his  reading,  as  well  as 
to  give  him  the  free  exercise,  which  he  needs,  of  his 
muscles.  It  may  be  urged  as  an  argument  against  the 
use  of  the  games,  that  they  are  too  noisy  and  attract 
the  attention  of  the  children  who  are  busy  at  their 
seats.  Often  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  these  chil- 
dren to  watch  the  younger  ones  at  their  games.  It 
would  rest  them  and  put  them  into  closer  sympathy 
with  the  little  ones.  In  a  short  time  they  will  not 
care  so  much  to  watch  them.  The  little  children 
should  be  thoughtful  of  the  older  ones  and  move  about 
as  quietly  as  is  possible. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  games  which  we  have 
used  in  our  primary  school.  They  are  given  in  the 
way  of  suggestion  only.  They  are  played  at  first  by 
following  spoken  directions.  When  the  children  are 
perfectly  familiar  with  the  oral  direction,  the  written 
direction  is  gradually  substituted.  The  children  do 
not  stay  long  enough  on  one  game  to  become  tired  of 


I36  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

it.  Two  or  three  or  even  more  are  played  at  a  single 
recitation.  It  is  not  the  plan  to  drill  the  pupils  upon 
the  written  directions,  but  by  frequent  repetitions  to 
familiarize  them  with  them.  The  games  are  most 
suitable  for  the  very  earliest  reading  lessons.  The 
plan  for  teaching  one  of  them,  the  first  one  given 
here,  will  be  written  out  quite  fully.  The  others  will 
be  given  with  less  detail. 

THE   RING   GAME 

Material.  —  Six  celluloid  rings,  red,  white,  blue,  yel- 
low, green,  and  black.  Surcingle  rings  can  be  painted 
the  colors  desired. 

Directions.  —  Take  the  red  ring,  Jennie. 
Take  the  blue  ring,  Eva. 
Take  the  yellow  ring,  Wallace. 
Take  the  green  ring,  Chauncey. 
Take  the  black  ring,  Gregory. 
Take  the  white  ring,  Lloyd. 

When  the  children  are  ready  to  hide  the  rings  this 
direction  is  given  to  the  remainder  of  the  class  :  — 

Close  your  eyes. 

This  to  the  pupils  who  hold  the  rings :  — 

Hide  the  rings. 

When  the  children  have  all  the  rings  hid  they  an- 
nounce it  by  lightly  clapping  their  hands,  upon  which 


EXERCISES   AND    LESSONS  137 

the  children  open  their  eyes.      Directions  are  then 

given  to  those  who  did  not  hide  rings,  for  finding  the 

rings,  e.g.:  — 

Find  the  red  ring. 

Find  the  blue  ring,  etc. 

No  notice  is  taken  of  any  ring  but  the  one  called 
for.  A  limited  time  is  given  for  the  finding  of  each. 
At  the  close  of  that  time,  if  the  ring  is  not  discovered, 
the  one  who  hid  it  gets  it.  When  the  written  direc- 
tions are  first  used  the  whole  sentence  need  not  be 
put  upon  the  board,  e.g.,  the  teacher  need  write  only  — 
the  red  ring.  She  says  to  the  child,  "  find  this"  — 
pointing  to  the  board ;  or  red,  alone,  may  be  written, 
in  which  case  the  teacher  points  to  the  word,  saying, 
"You  may  find  this  ring."  There  is  considerable 
rivalry  to  see  who  will  find  the  most  rings. 

When  the  children  seem  to  know  the  written  di- 
rections perfectly,  a  test  is  made  of  their  ability, 
actually,  to  read  them;  thus,  instead  of  writing, 
"  Take  the  red  ring/*  the  teacher  writes,  "Find  the 
red  ring."  She  writes  "  Hide  the  rings,"  before  she 
writes,  "  Close  your  eyes."  If  the  children  recog- 
nize what  is  written  they  will  set  the  teacher  right. 

BALL   AND   CORD 

Material.  —  Small,  soft  rubber  balls  with  short  rub- 
ber cords  attached.  The  cords  have  a  loop  for  the 
finger. 


I38  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Ball  in  right  hand. 

Toss  up. 

Hold. 

Toss  down. 

Hold. 

Toss  to  the  right. 

Hold. 
Toss  to  the  left. 

Hold. 

Ball  in  left  hand. 

Toss  up,  etc. 

In  this  and  succeeding  games  it  is  left  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  teacher  as  to  when  the  written  direc- 
tions shall  be  introduced. 

BALL    GAME 

Material,  —  A  soft  rubber  ball. 

Form  a  circle. 
Take  the  ball,  Roy. 
Toss  the  ball. 
Roll  the  ball. 
Bounce  the  ball. 
Throw  the  ball. 
Give  the  ball  to  Sadie. 

In  this  game  one  of  the  children  takes  the  ball  to 
the  circle.  Each,  as  the  ball  is  tossed  to  him,  tosses 
it  to  another.  At  the  direction  of  the  teacher  the 
game  of  tossing  the  ball  is  changed  to  one  of  rolling 


EXERCISES   AND    LESSONS  1 39 

the  bally  the  pupils  squatting  on  the  floor ;  this  in 
turn  is  changed  later  as  the  directions  indicate. 
Care  must  be  taken  that  all  children  are  treated 
alike  in  this  game.  The  children  themselves  will 
look  out  for  this  if  properly  directed  at  the  outset 
of  the  game. 

HUNTING  THE   VIOLET 

Material.  —  Violets  scattered  about  the  room. 

Find  a  blue  violet,  Glenn. 
Find  a  violet  bud,  Edith. 
Find  a  yellow  violet,  Lloyd. 
Find  a  violet  leaf,  Sadie. 
Find  a  white  violet,  Jennie. 
Find  a  purple  violet,  Rudolph. 
Sing  to  the  violets. 

Children  sing  softly :  — 

"  Oh,  violets,  pretty  violets, 
I  pray  you  tell  to  me 
Why  are  you  the  first  flowers 
That  bloom  upon  the  lea?"  etc. 

A   TREE    GAME  —  (SPRING    OR   FALL) 

Material.  —  Leaves  of  the  different  trees  with  which 
the  children  are  familiar. 

Glenn  may  be  a  maple  tree. 

Choose  your  leaf. 
Wallace  may  be  an  elm  tree. 
Choose  your  leaf. 


140  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Chauncey  may  be  a  birch  tree. 
Choose  your  leaf,  etc. 
Make  a  little  forest. 
Toss  in  the  wind. 

(The  leaves  are  pinned  upon  the  children  as  each 
chooses  his  leaf,  and  they  dance  lightly  about  as  if 
tossed  by  the  wind.) 

CARING   FOR   THE   ANIMALS 

Material. — Wooden  or  paper  animals.  A  portion 
of  the  table  is  marked  off  by  a  chalk  line  for  the 
farmyard. 

Drive  in  a  pig,  Willie. 

Lead  in  a  horse,  Gregory. 

Drive  in  a  sheep,  Sadie. 

Lead  in  a  cow,  Roy,  etc. 

They  are  driven  in  at  night,  then  driven  out  in  the 
morning.  Sometimes  they  are  hurried  in  because  of 
the  approach  of  a  storm. 

DOLL    PLAY (GENERAL) 

Material  —  Penny  dolls  or  larger  ones. 

Take  a  doll. 

Rock  the  baby. 

Pat  the  baby. 

Sing  the  baby  to  sleep. 

Put  the  baby  to  bed. 


EXERCISES   AND    LESSONS  141 

Take  up  the  baby. 
Wash  its  face. 
Comb  its  hair. 
Feed  it  bread  and  milk. 
Take  it  for  a  walk. 

At  the  direction,  "Sing  the  baby  to  sleep,"  the 
children  sing  very  softly  :  — 

"  Rock-a-bye  Baby,"  —  or  some  other  lullaby. 

The  bed  is  the  chair  on  which  the  child  is  sitting. 
All  stand  and  turn  about  together  to  put  the 
babies  to  bed.  They  go  through  the  movements 
only  of  washing  the  face  and  hands  and  combing 
the  hair,  and  of  feeding  bread  and  milk.  They  per- 
form these  acts  in  unison. 

THE   RAINBOW   FAIRIES  —  (SPRING) 

Material.  —  Large  bows  of  tissue  paper  with 
streamers,  of  the  various  colors  mentioned. 

Eva  may  be  a  yellow  fairy. 
Roy  may  be  a  blue  fairy. 
Edith  may  be  a  green  fairy. 
Louise  may  be  a  red  fairy. 
Lloyd  may  be  an  orange  fairy. 
Sadie  may  be  a  violet  fairy. 
The  others  may  be  trees. 
Join  hands,  fairies. 
Dance  about  the  trees. 


142  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

As  the  first  direction  is  given  Eva  steps  to  the 
table  and  takes  a  yellow  bow  which  is  pinned  to 
her  left  shoulder :  the  others  follow  as  called  upon. 

THE    LEAVES 

Material.  —  A  leaf  of  one  of  several  colors  pinned 
on  each  child.     The  wind  calls :  — 

Come  yellow  leaf. 
Come  red  leaf. 
Come  green  leaves,  etc. 
Dance  in  the  wind. 

At  the  last  direction  the  children  fly  over  a 
small  area,  hither  and  thither ;  some  one  way,  some 
another,  passing  and  repassing  one  another,  simulat- 
ing the  leaves  in  a  storm. 

A   FLOCK   OF   BIRDS 

All  the  children  are  little  birds. 
Fly  to  the  fields. 
Pick  up  seeds. 
Take  a  drink. 
Bathe  in  the  creek. 
Preen  your  feathers. 
Fly  home. 
Perch  on  a  twig. 

They  sing: —  m^' 

"  We  are  little  birdies, 

Happy  we,  happy  we. 
We  are  little  birdies 
Singing  in  a  tree." 


CHAPTER  VIII 


List  of   Books  for   Primary  Grades 


In  selecting  reading  books  for  primary  grades  the 
purpose  is  to  find  those  which  will  give  the  readiest 
mastery  of  the  printed  forms  of  speech. 

For  this  purpose  books  need  to  be  well  graded  and 
interesting.  Primary  teachers  have  expended  their 
utmost  skill  upon  such  simple,  attractive,  and  inter- 
esting books  for  children.  Pictorial  illustration  has 
added  to  the  clearness  and  beauty  of  the  books,  so 
that,  with  the  rivalry  of  many  large  publishing 
houses,  we  now  have  a  great  variety  of  good  primary 
books  to  select  from. 

The  earliest  and  simplest  of  these  are  the  primers, 
which,  followed  by  the  first  readers,  give  the  most 
necessary  drills  upon  the  forms  of  easy  words  and 
sentences.  Great  care  has  been  taken  to  give  an 
easy  regular  grading  so  as  to  let  a  child  help  himself 
as  much  as  possible.  But  as  soon  as  children,  by 
blackboard  exercises  and  by  means  of  primers, 
have  gained  a  mastery  of  the  simpler  words  and  the 
powers  of  the  letters,  the  Mother  Goose  rhymes,  the 
fables  and  fairy  tales  (already  familiar  to  the  children 

143 


144  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

in  oral  work)  are  introduced  into  their  reading  books 
in  the  simplest  possible  forms. 

The  use  of  interesting  rhymes  and  stories  in  this  early- 
reading  is  the  only  means  of  giving  it  a  lively  content 
and  of  thus  securing  interest  and  concentration  of 
thought.  Good  primary  teachers  have  been  able  in 
this  way  to  relieve  the  reading  lessons  of  their  tedium, 
and,  what  is  equally  good,  have  strengthened  the  inter- 
est of  the  children  in  the  best  literature  of  childhood. 

Besides  the  choicest  fables  and  fairy  tales,  many 
of  the  simpler  nature  myths  and  even  such  longer 
poems  and  stories  as  "  Hiawatha,"  "  Robinson  Cru- 
soe," and  "  Ulysses  "  have  been  used  with  happy  re- 
sults as  reading  books  in  the  first  three  years.  There 
are  also  certain  collections  of  children's  poems,  such 
as  Stevenson's  "Child's  Garden  of  Verses,"  Field's 
"  Love-songs  of  Childhood,"  Sherman's  "  Little  Folk 
Lyrics,"  "Old  Ballads  in  Prose,"  "The  Listening 
Child,"  and  others,  which  may  suggest  the  beauty  and 
variety  of  choice  literary  materials  which  are  now 
easily  within  the  reach  of  teachers  and  chilcjren  in 
primary  schools. 

There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  little  folk  in 
primary  classes  may  reap  the  full  benefit  of  a  close 
acquaintance  with  these  favorite  songs,  stories,  and 
poems,  and  that  in  the  highest  educative  sense  the 
effect  is  admirable. 

In  the  following  list  the  books  for  each  grade  are 
arranged  into  three  groups  :  — 


LIST   OF    BOOKS    FOR   PRIMARY    GRADES  I45 

First.  A  series  of  choicest  books  and  those  exten- 
sively used  and  well  adapted  for  the  grade  as  regular 
reading  exercises. 

Second.  A  supplementary  list  of  similar  quality 
and  excellence,  but  somewhat  more  difficult. 

They  may,  in  some  cases,  serve  as  substitutes  for 
those  given  in  the  first  group. 

Third.  A  collection  of  books  for  teachers,  partly 
similar  in  character  to  those  mentioned  in  the  two 
previous  groups  and  partly  of  a  much  wider,  profes- 
sional range  in  literature,  history,  and  nature.  Some 
books  of  child-study,  psychology,  and  pedagogy  are 
also  included.  The  problems  of  the  primary  teacher 
are  no  longer  limited  to  the  small  drills  and  exercises 
in  spelling  and  reading,  but  comprehend  many  of  the 
most  interesting  and  far-reaching  questions  of  educa- 
tion. It  is  well,  therefore,  for  the  primary  teacher  to 
become  acquainted  not  only  with  the  great  works  of 
literature  but  with  the  best  professional  books  in 
education. 

LIST  OF  CHOICE  READING  MATTER  FOR 
THE   GRADES 

FIRST  GRADE  — FIRST   SERIES 

Cyr's  Primer.     Ginn  &  Co. 
Cyr's  First  Reader.     Ginn  &  Co. 

I  Riverside  Primer  and  First  Reader.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Nature  Stories  for  Young  Readers  (Plants).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Hiawatha  Primer.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 


I46  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Stepping  Stones  to  Literature,  Book  I.     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

Child  Life  Primer.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Taylor's  First  Reader.     Werner  School  Book  Co. 

Arnold's  Primer.     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

The  Thought  Reader.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Sunbonnet  Babies.     Rand,  McNally,  &  Co. 

Nature's  By-ways.    The  Morse  Co. 

Graded  Classics,  No.  I.     B.  F.  Johnson  Pub.  Co. 

Graded  Literature,  No.  I.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

First  Reader  (Hodskins).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Baldwin's  Primer  (Kirk).     American  Book  Co. 


FIRST  GRADE  — SECOND   SERIES 

Six  Nursery  Classics  (O'Shea).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Verse  and  Prose  for  Beginners  in  Reading.     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Stories  for  Children.    American  Book  Co. 
Rhymes  and  Fables.     University  Publishing  Co. 
The  Finch  First  Reader.     Ginn  &  Co. 
Baldwin's  First  Reader.     American  Book  Co. 
Heart  of  Oak,  No.  I.    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Choice  Literature,  Book  I  (Williams) .     Butler,  Sheldon,  &  Co. 
Child  Life,  First  Book.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Fables  and  Rhymes  for  Beginners.     Ginn  &  Co. 


FIRST  GRADE  — FOR  TEACHERS  — THIRD  SERIES 

A  Book  of  Nursery  Rhymes  (Mother  Goose).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
The  Adventures  of  a  Brownie.     Harper  &  Bros. 
Kindergarten  Stories  and  Morning  Talks  (Wiltse).     Ginn  &  Co. 
Talks  for  Kindergarten  and  Primary  Schools  (Wiltse).     Ginn 

&Co. 
Hall's  How  to  Teach  Reading.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Place  of  the  Story  in  Early  Education  (Wiltse).     Ginn  &  Co. 
Methods  of  Teaching  Reading  (Branson).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


LIST    OF    BOOKS    FOR   PRIMARY    GRADES  I47 

Lowell's  Books  and  Libraries.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Ruskin's  Books  and  Reading.     In  Sesame  and  Lilies. 
Lectures  to  Kindergartners  (Peabody).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Mother  Goose  (Denslow).     McClure,  Phillips,  &  Co. 
Boston   Collection   of  Kindergarten   Stories.      J.   L.   Hammett 

&Co. 
The  Study  of  Children  and  their  School  Training  (Warner). 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
The  Story  Hour  (Kate  Douglas  Wiggin).     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Trumpet  and  Drum  (Eugene  Field).     Scribner's  Sons. 
A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses  (Robert  Louis  Stevenson).    Scrib- 
ner's Sons. 
Treetops  and  Meadows.     The  Public  School  Publishing  Co., 

Bloomington,  111. 
Songs  from  the  Nest  (Emily  Huntington  Miller).     Kindergarten 

Literature  Co. 
The  Moral  Instruction  of  Children  (Felix  Adler).     D.  Appleton 

&Co. 
Children's  Rights  (Kate  Douglas  Wiggin) .     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
The  Story  of  Patsy  (Wiggin).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
First  Book  of  Birds  (Miller).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 


SECOND  GRADE —  FIRST  SERIES 

Nature  Stories  for  Young  Readers  (continued).    D.  C.  Heath 

&Co. 
Easy  Steps  for  Little  Feet.     American  Book  Co. 
Classic  Stories  for  Little  Ones.     Public  School  Publishing  Co., 

Bloomington,  111. 
Verse  and  Prose  for  Beginners.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Cyr's  Second  Reader.    Ginn  &  Co. 
Stepping  Stones  to  Literature,  Book  II. 
Pets  and  Companions  (Stickney).     Ginn  &  Co. 
Child  Life,  Second  Book.    The  Macmillan  Co. 


I48  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Nature  Myths  and  Stories  for  Little  Ones  (Cooke).    A.  Flanagan 
&Co. 
The  preceding  books  are  for  second  and  third  grades. 

Around  the  World,  Book  I.     The  Morse  Co. 

Graded  Classics,  No.  II.     B.  F.  Johnson  Publishing  Co. 

Graded  Literature,  No.  II.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

A  Book  of  Nursery  Rhymes  (Welsh).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Book  of  Nature  Myths  (Holbrook) .     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

SECOND   GRADE  — SECOND   SERIES 

Heart  of  Oak,  No.  II.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

German  Fairy  Tales  (Grimm).     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

Fables  and  Folk  Lore  (Scudder).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Nature  Stories  for  Young  Readers  —  Animals.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Danish  Fairy  Tales  (Andersen) .     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

Baldwin's  Second  Reader.     American  Book  Co. 

Choice  Literature,  Book  II  (Williams) .     Butler,  Sheldon,  &  Co. 

Fairy  Tale  and  Fable  (Thompson).     The  Morse  Co. 

Fairy  Stories  and  Fables  (Baldwin) .     American  Book  Co. 

Plant  Babies  and  Their  Cradles.     Educational  Publishing  Co. 

/Esop's  Fables.     Educational  Publishing  Co. 

Story  Reader.     American  Book  Co. 

Open  Sesame,  Part  I.     Ginn  &  Co. 

The  above  are  excellent  selections  for  second,  third,  and  fourth 
grades. 

Songs  and  Stories.     University  Publishing  Co. 
Love  Songs  of  Childhood  (Field).     Scribner's  Sons. 

SECOND   GRADE —  FOR  TEACHERS 

Poetry  for  Children  (Eliot).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
The  Story  Hour  (Wiggin).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Story  of  Hiawatha.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Round  the  Year  in  Myth  and   Song  (Holbrook).     American 
Book  Co. 


LIST    OF    BOOKS    FOR    PRIMARY    GRADES  1 49 

Old  Ballads  in  Prose  (Tappan).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

St.  Nicholas  Christmas  Book.     Century  Co.,  New  York. 

Asgard  Stories  (Foster-Cummings) .     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

Fairy  Tale  Plays  and  How  to  Act  Them  (Mrs.  Bell).  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co. 

Little  Folk  Lyrics  (Sherman).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Readings  in  Folk  Lore  (Skinner).     American  Book  Co. 

Nature  Pictures  by  American  Poets.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Squirrels  and  Other  Fur-bearers  (Burroughs).  Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 

Seven  Great  American  Poets  (Hart).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

Early  Training  of  Children  (Malleson).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Comenius's  The  School  of  Infancy.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Krlisi's  Life  of  Pestalozzi.     American  Book  Co. 

Development  of  the  Child  (Oppenheim).    The  Macmillan  Co. 

The  Study  of  Child  Nature  (Elizabeth  Harrison).  Published  by 
Chicago  Kindergarten  College. 

Listening  Child  (Thacher).     The  Macmillan  Co. 

History  and  Literature  (Rice).    A.  Flanagan  &  Co. 


THIRD  GRADE  — FIRST   SERIES 

Robinson  Crusoe.     Public  School  Publishing  Co. 

Golden  Book  of  Choice  Reading.    American  Book  Co. 

iEsop's  Fables  (Stickney).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Andersen's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  I.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Seven  Little  Sisters.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Heart  of  Oak,  No.  II.    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Fairy  Stories  and  Fables.     American  Book  Co. 

Child  Life,  Third  Reader.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Grimm's  German  Household  Tales.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Fables  (published  as  leaflets).     C.  M.  Parker,  Taylorville,  111. 

Around  the  World,  Book  II.     The  Morse  Co. 

Graded  Classics,  No.  III.     B.  F.  Johnson  Publishing  Co. 

Graded  Literature,  No.  III.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales.     Educational  Publishing  Co. 


ISO  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales  (Wiltse) .     Ginn  &  Co. 

Nature  Myths  and  Stories  for  Little  Ones  (Cooke).     A.  Flanagan 

&Co. 
Fairy  Tales  in  Verse  and  Prose  (Rolfe).     American  Book  Co. 


THIRD  GRADE  — SECOND   SERIES 

Arabian  Nights.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Hans  Andersen's  Stories.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Fairy  Tales  in  Verse  and  Prose  (Rolfe).     Harper  &  Bros. 

Stories  Mother  Nature  Told  Her  Children.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Andersen's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  II.    Ginn  &  Co. 

Open  Sesame,  Part  I.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Judd's  Classic  Myths. 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  II.     Ginn  &  Co. 

The  Eugene  Field  Book  (Burt).     Scribner's  Sons. 

A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses.     Rand,  McNally,  &  Co. 

Little  Lame  Prince  (Craik).    Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

Prose  and  Verse  for  Children  (Pyle) .     American  Book  Co. 

Book  of  Tales.    American  Book  Co. 


THIRD  GRADE  — FOR  TEACHERS 

Stories  from  the  History  of  Rome.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Friends  and  Helpers  (Eddy) .     Ginn  $  Co. 

Little  Lucy's  Wonderful  Globe  (Yonge).     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Robinson  Crusoe.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Arabian  Nights,  Aladdin,  etc.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

Bird's  Christmas  Carol  (Wiggin).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Uncle  Remus  (Harris).     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold  (Baldwin).     American  Book  Co. 

Four  Great  Americans  (Baldwin).    Werner  School  Book  Co. 

Stories  of  Great  Americans  for  Little  Americans  (Eggleston). 

American  Book  Co. 
The  Story  of  Lincoln  (Cavens).     Public  School  Publishing  Co. 
Among  the  Farmyard  People  (Pierson).    E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co. 


LIST    OF    BOOKS    FOR    PRIMARY    GRADES  151 

The  Howells  Story  Book  (Burt).     Scribner's  Sons. 

The  Jungle  Book  (Kipling).     Century  Co.,  New  York. 

Old  Norse  Stories  (Bradish).     American  Book  Co. 

Little  Brothers  of  the  Air  (Miller).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Hans  Brinker  (Mary  Mapes  Dodge).     Century  Co. 

Black  Beauty.     University  Publishing  Co. 

Tanglewood  Tales  (Hawthorne).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Wonder  Book  (Hawthorne).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

The  Story  of  the  Wagner  Opera.     Scribner's  Sons. 

Thoughts  on  Education  (Locke).     The  Macmillan  Co. 

The  Education  of  Man  (Froebel).     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Childhood  in  Literature  and  Art  (Scudder) .     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Waymarks  for  Teachers  (Arnold).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 
Hailman's  History  of  Pedagogy.     American  Book  Co. 


SERIES   OF  SELECT   READERS   FOR  THE 
GRADES 

Child  Life.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Around  the  World.    The  Morse  Co. 
Baldwin's  Readers.     American  Book  Co. 
Graded  Classics.     B.  F.  Johnson  Publishing  Co. 
Graded  Literature.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Stepping  Stones  to  Literature.     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 
Lights  to  Literature.     Rand,  McNally,  &  Co. 
The  Heart  of  Oak  Series.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Choice  Literature.     Butler,  Sheldon,  &  Co. 


I 


CHAPTER   IX 

Educational  Value  of  Literature 

The  gradual  introduction  of  the  choicer  products 
of  literature  into  the  grades  of  the  common  school 
has  been  going  on  for  several  years.  Bringing  the 
school  children  face  to  face  with  the  thoughts  of  the 
masters  has  had  often  a  thrilling  effect,  and  the  feel- 
ing has  spread  among  teachers  that  a  new  door  has 
been  opened  into  what  Ruskin  calls  "The  King's 
Gardens/'  As  we  stand  at  this  open  portal  to  the 
Elysian  Fields  of  literature,  there  may  fall  upon  us 
something  of  the  beauty,  something  even  of  the 
solemn  stillness,  of  the  arched  cathedral  with  its 
golden  windows.  But  how  inadequate  is  the  Gothic 
cathedral,  or  the  Greek  temple,  to  symbolize  the 
temple  of  literature. 

Within  less  than  a  score  of  years  there  has  been 
such  reading  of  varied  literary  masterpieces  by  chil- 
dren as  to  bring  us  face  to  face  with  a  problem  of 
prime  significance  in  education,  the  place  and  im- 
portance of  literature  in  the  education  of  American 

children. 

152 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 53 

Millions  of  children  are  introduced  yearly  to  book- 
land,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  greater  importance  than 
what  Congress  does,  what  provision  is  made  for 
these  oncoming  millions  in  the  sunlit  fields  and 
forest  glades  of  literature,  where  the  boys  and  girls 
walk  in  happy  companionship  with  the  "wisest  and 
wittiest "  of  our  race.  We  have  now  had  enough 
experience  with  these  treasures  of  culture  to  get  a 
real  foretaste  of  the  feast  prepared  for  the  growing 
youth.  We  know  that  their  appetites  are  keen  and 
their  digestive  powers  strong.  It  is  incumbent  upon 
educators  to  get  a  comprehensive  survey  of  this  land 
and  to  estimate  its  resources.  Other  fields  of  study, 
like  natural  science,  geography,  music,  etc.,  are 
undergoing  the  same  scrutiny  as  to  their  educative 
value.  Literature,  certainly  a  peer  in  the  hierarchy 
of  great  studies,  if  not  supreme  in  value  above  others, 
is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  estimate.  Tangible 
proofs  of  the  vital  culture-force  of  good  literature 
upon  growing  minds  can  be  given  in  many  individual 
cases.  But  to  what  degree  it  has  general  or  uni- 
versal fitness  to  awaken,  strengthen,  and  refine  all 
minds,  is  in  dispute. 

It  seems  clear,  at  least,  that  only  those  who  show 
taste  and  enthusiasm  for  a  choice  piece  of  literature 
can  teach  it  with  success.  This  requirement  of  ap- 
preciation and  enjoyment  of  the  study  is  more  im- 
perative in  literature,  because  its  appeal  is  not  merely 
to  the  intellect  and  the  reason,  as  in  other  studies, 


154  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN  .READING 

but  especially  to  the  emotions  and  higher  aesthetic 
judgments,  to  moral  and  religious  sentiment  in  ideal 
representation. 

It  has  been  often  observed  that  discussions  of  the 
superior  educative  value  of  literature  before  bodies 
of  teachers,  while  entertaining  and  delightful,  fall  far 
short  of  lasting  results  because  of  the  teachers'  nar- 
row experience  with  literature.  In  the  case  of  many 
teachers,  the  primitive  alphabet  of  literary  apprecia- 
tion is  lacking,  and  the  most  enthusiastic  appeals  to 
the  charm  and  exaltation  of  such  studies  fall  harmless. 
Yet  literature  in  the  schools  is  hopeless  without  teach- 
ers who  have  felt  at  home  in  this  delightsome  land, 
this  most  real  world  of  ideal  strength  and  beauty. 

The  discussion  of  the  subject  for  teachers  is  beset, 
therefore,  with  peculiar  and  seemingly  insurmount- 
able difficulties.  The  strength,  charm,  and  refine- 
ment of  literature  are  known  only  to  those  who 
have  read  the  masters  with  delight,  while  even 
people  of  cultured  taste  listen  doubtfully  to  the 
praise  of  authors  they  have  never  read.  To  one 
enamoured  of  the  music  of  Tennyson's  songs,  the 
very  suggestion  of  "  In  Memoriam "  awakens  en- 
thusiasm. To  one  who  has  not  read  Tennyson  and 
his  like,  silence  on  the  subject  is  golden.  To  those 
not  much  travelled  in  the  fields  of  literature,  there 
is  danger  of  speaking  in  an  unknown  tongue,  while 
they,  of  all  others,  need  a  plain  and  convincing  word. 
To  speak   this  plain  and  convincing  word  to  those 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE   OF    LITERATURE  1 55 

who  may  have  acquired  but  little  relish  for  literature, 
and  that  little  only  in  the  fragmentary  selections  of 
the  school  readers,  is  a  high  and  difficult  aim.  But 
teachers  are  willing  to  learn,  and  to  discover  new 
sources  of  enthusiasm  in  their  profession.  It  is 
probable,  also,  that  the  original  capacity  to  enjoy 
great  literature  is  much  more  common  than  is  often 
supposed,  and  that  the  great  average  of  teachers  is 
quite  capable  of  receiving  this  powerful  stimulus. 
The  fact  is,  our  common  schools  have  done  so 
little,  till  of  late,  to  cultivate  this  fine  taste,  that 
we  have  faint  reason  to  expect  it  in  our  teachers. 

Overwhelmed  as  we  are  with  the  folly  of  indulg- 
ing in  the  praise  of  literature  before  many  whose 
ears  have  been  but  poorly  attuned  to  the  sweet 
melody  or  majestic  rhythm  of  the  masters,  we  still 
make  bold  to  grapple  with  this  argument.  There 
is  surely  no  subject  to  which  the  teachers  need  more 
to  open  their  eyes  and  ears  and  better  nature,  so  as  to 
take  in  the  enrichment  it  affords.  There  is  encour- 
agement in  the  fact  that  many  teachers  fully  appre- 
ciate the  worth  of  these  writers,  and  have  succeeded 
in  making  their  works  beautiful  and  educative  to 
the  children.  Very  many  other  teachers  are  capable 
of  the  full  refreshing  enjoyment  of  classic  works, 
when  their  attention  and  labor  are  properly  expended 
upon  them.  The  colleges,  universities,  high  schools, 
and  normal  schools  have  largely  abandoned  the  dull 
epitomizing  of  literature,  the  talk  about  authors,  for 


156  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

the  study  of  the  works  themselves  of  the  masters. 
The  consequence  is,  that  the  study  of  literature  in 
English  is  becoming  an  enthusiasm,  and  teachers 
of  this  type  are  multiplying. 

The  deeper  causes  for  this  widespread  lack  of 
literary  appreciation  among  the  people,  and  even 
among  teachers  and  scholars,  is  found  partly  in  the 
practical,  scientific,  and  utilitarian  spirit  of  the  age, 
and  partly  in  the  corresponding  unliterary  courses 
of  study  which  have  prevailed  everywhere  in  our 
common  schools.  The  absence  of  literary  standards 
and  taste  among  teachers  is  due  largely  to  the 
failure  of  the  schools  themselves,  hitherto,  to  cul- 
tivate this  sort  of  proficiency.  Those  very  qualities 
which  give  to  literature  its  supreme  excellence,  its 
poetic  beauty,  its  artistic  finish  and  idealism,  are 
among  the  highest  fruits  of  culture,  and  are  far 
more  difficult  of  attainment  than  mere  knowledge. 
It  is  no  small  thing  to  introduce  the  rarest  and 
finest  culture  of  the  world  into  the  common  school,  and 
thus  propagate,  in  the  broadest  democratic  fashion, 
that  which  is  the  peculiar,  superior  refinement  of  the 
choicest  spirits  of  the  world.  If  progress  in  this 
direction  is  slow,  we  may  remember  that  the  best 
ideals  are  slow  of  attainment. 

There  is  also  an  intangible  quality  in  all  first-class 
literature,  which  is  not  capable  of  exact  description 
or  demonstration.  George  Willis  Cooke,  in  "  Poets 
and  Problems"  (pp.  31-32),  says:  — 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 57 

"  Poetry  enters  into  those  higher  regions  of  human 
experience  concerning  which  no  definite  account  can 
be  given ;  where  all  words  fail ;  about  which  all  we 
know  is  to  be  obtained  by  hints,  symbols,  poetic 
figures,  and  imagings.  Poetry  is  truer  and  more 
helpful  than  prose,  because  it  penetrates  those 
regions  of  feeling,  beauty,  and  spiritual  reality, 
where  definitions  have  no  place  or  justification. 
There  would  be  no  poetry  if  life  were  limited  to 
what  we  can  understand;  nor  would  there  be  any 
religion.  Indeed,  the  joy,  the  beauty,  and  the 
promise  of  life  would  all  be  gone  if  there  were 
nothing  which  reaches  beyond  our  powers  of  defini- 
tion. The  mystery  of  existence  makes  the  grandeur 
and  worth  of  man's  nature,  as  it  makes  for  him  his 
poetry  and  his  religion.  Poetry  suggests,  hints, 
images  forth,  what  is  too  wonderful,  too  transcen- 
dent, too  near  primal  reality,  too  full  of  life,  beauty, 
and  joy,  for  explanation  or  comprehension.  It 
embodies  man's  longing  after  the  Eternal  One, 
expresses  his  sense  of  the  deep  mystery  of  Being, 
voices  his  soul  sorrow,  illumines  his  path  with  hope 
and  objects  of  beauty.  Man's  aspiration,  his  sense 
of  imperfection,  his  yearning  for  a  sustaining  truth 
and  reality,  as  the  life  within  and  over  all  things, 
find  expression  in  poetry ;  because  it  offers  the 
fittest  medium   of    interpretation   for   these    higher 

I  movements  of  soul.     Whenever  the  soul  feels  deeply, 
or  is  stirred  by  a  great  thought,  the  poetic  form  of 


1 58  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

utterance  at  once  becomes  the  most  natural  and 
desirable  for  its  loving  and  faithful  interpretation.,, 

This  intangible  excellence  of  superior  literature, 
which  defies  all  exact  measurement  by  the  yard- 
stick, puzzles  the  practical  man  and  the  scientist. 
There  is  no  way  of  getting  at  it  with  their  tools 
and  measurements.  They  are  very  apt  to  give  it 
up  in  disgust  and  dismiss  it  with  some  uncompli- 
mentary name.  But  Shakespeare's  mild  reign  con- 
tinues, and  old  Homer  sings  his  deathless  song  to 
those  who  wish  to  hear. 

Teachers  need  both  the  exact  methods  of  science 
and  the  spiritual  life  of  the  poets,  and  we  may  well 
spend  some  pains  in  finding  out  the  life-giving  prop- 
erties of  good  literature. 

Lowell,  in  his  "  Books  and  Libraries,"  says  :  — 

"To  wash  down  the  drier  morsels  that  every 
library  must  necessarily  offer  at  its  board,  let  there 
be  plenty  of  imaginative  literature,  and  let  its  range 
be  not  too  narrow  to  stretch  from  Dante  to  the  elder 
Dumas.  The  world  of  the  imagination  is  not  the 
world  of  abstraction  and  nonentity,  as  some  conceive, 
but  a  world  formed  out  of  chaos  by  a  sense  of  the 
beauty  that  is  in  man  and  the  earth  on  which  he 
dwells.  It  is  the  realm  of  Might-be,  our  haven  of 
refuge  from  the  shortcomings  and  disillusions  of  life. 
It  is,  to  quote  Spenser,  who  knew  it  well,  — 

"  '  The  world's  sweet  inn  from  care  and  wearisome 
turmoil.'     Do  we  believe,  then,  that  God  gave  us  in 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE 


159 


mockery  this  splendid  faculty  of  sympathy  with 
things  that  are  a  joy  forever?  For  my  part,  I 
believe  that  the  love  and  study  of  works  of  imagina- 
tion is  of  practical  utility  in  a  country  so  profoundly 
material  (or,  as  we  like  to  call  it,  practical)  in  its 
leading  tendencies  as  ours.  The  hunger  after  purely 
intellectual  delights,  the  content  with  ideal  posses- 
sions, cannot  but  be  good  for  us  in  maintaining  a 
wholesome  balance  of  the  character  and  of  the  fac- 
ulties. I  for  one  shall  never  be  persuaded  that 
Shakespeare  left  a  less  useful  legacy  to  his  country- 
men than  Watt.  We  hold  all  the  deepest,  all  the 
highest,  satisfactions  of  life  as  tenants  of  imagination. 
Nature  will  keep  up  the  supply  of  what  are  called 
hard-headed  people  without  our  help,  and,  if  it  come 
to  that,  there  are  other  as  good  uses  for  heads  as  at 
the  end  of  battering-rams.,, 

"  But  have  you  ever  rightly  considered  what  the 
mere  ability  to  read  means  ?  That  it  is  the  key  which 
admits  us  to  the  whole  world  of  thought  and  fancy 
and  imagination  ?  to  the  company  of  saint  and  sage, 
of  the  wisest  and  wittiest  at  their  wisest  and  wittiest 
moments  ?  That  it  enables  us  to  see  with  the  keen- 
est eyes,  hear  with  the  finest  ears,  and  listen  to  the 
sweetest  voices  of  all  time?  More  than  that,  'it 
annihilates  time  and  space  for  us ;  it  revives  for  us 
without  a  miracle  the  Age  of  Wonder,  endowing  us 
with  the  shoes  of  swiftness  and  the  cap  of  darkness, 
so  that  we  walk  invisible  like  fern-seed,  and  witness 


l6o  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

unharmed  the  plague  at  Athens  or  Florence  or 
London ;  accompany  Caesar  on  his  marches,  or  look 
in  on  Catiline  in  council  with  his  fellow-conspirators, 
or  Guy  Fawkes  in  the  cellar  of  St.  Stephen's.  We 
often  hear  of  people  who  will  descend  to  any  servil- 
ity, submit  to  any  insult,  for  the  sake  of  getting  them- 
selves or  their  children  into  what  is  euphemistically 
called  good  society.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  them  that 
there  is  a  select  society  of  all  the  centuries  to  which 
they  and  theirs  can  be  admitted  for  the  asking,  a 
society,  too,  which  will  not  involve  them  in  ruinous 
expense,  and  still  more  ruinous  waste  of  time  and 
health  and  faculties  ? 

"  The  riches  of  scholarship,  the  benignities  of  lit- 
erature, defy  fortune  and  outlive  calamity.  They 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  thief  or  moth  or  rust.  As 
they  cannot  be  inherited,  so  they  cannot  be  alienated. 
But  they  may  be  shared,  they  may  be  distributed." 

This  notion  of  the  select  companionship  of  books 
finds  also  happy  expression  in  Ruskin's  "Sesame 
and  Lilies  " :  — 

"  We  may  intrude  ten  minutes'  talk  on  a  cabinet 
minister,  answered  probably  with  words  worse  than 
silence,  being  deceptive ;  or  snatch,  once  or  twice  in 
our  lives,  the  privilege  of  throwing  a  bouquet  in  the 
path  of  a  princess,  or  arresting  the  kind  glance  of 
a  queen.  And  yet  these  momentary  chances  we 
covet;  and  spend  our  years,  and  passions,  and 
powers  in  pursuit  of  little  more  than  these;  while, 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  l6l 

meantime,  there  is  a  society  continually  open  to  us, 
of  people  who  will  talk  to  us  as  long  as  we  like, 
whatever  our  rank  or  occupation ;  —  talk  to  us  in 
the  best  words  they  can  choose,  and  with  thanks 
if  we  listen  to  them.  And  this  society,  because  it  is 
so  numerous  and  so  gentle, — and  can  be  kept  wait- 
ing round  us  all  day  long,  not  to  grant  audience,  but 
to  gain  it;  kings  and  statesmen  lingering  patiently 
in  those  plainly  furnished  and  narrow  anterooms,  our 
bookcase  shelves,  —  we  make  no  account  of  that 
company,  —  perhaps  never  listen  to  a  word  they 
would  say,  all  day  long ! 

"This  court  of  the  past  differs  from  all  living 
aristocracy  in  this :  it  is  open  to  labor  and  to 
merit,  but  to  nothing  else.  No  wealth  will  bribe, 
no  name  overawe,  no  artifice  deceive,  the  guardian 
of  those  Elysian  gates.  In  the  deep  sense,  no  vile 
or  vulgar  person  ever  enters  there.  At  the  portieres 
of  that  silent  Faubourg  St.-Germain,  there  is  but 
brief  question,  '  Do  you  deserve  to  enter  ? '  *  Pass. 
Do  you  ask  to  be  the  companions  of  nobles  ?  Make 
yourself  noble,  and  you  shall  be.  Do  you  long  for 
the  conversation  of  the  wise  ?  Learn  to  understand 
it,  and  you  shall  hear  it.  But  on  other  terms  ?  — 
no.  If  you  will  not  rise  to  us,  we  cannot  stoop  to 
you.  The  living  lord  may  assume  courtesy,  the 
living  philosopher  explain  his  thought  to  you  with 
considerable  pain;  but  here  we  neither  feign  nor 
interpret ;  you  must  rise  to  the  level  of  our  thoughts 


1 62  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

if  you  would  be  gladdened  by  them,  and  share  our 

feelings,  if  you  would  recognize  our  presence.' " 

Wordsworth  says :  — 

"  Books,  we  know, 
Are  a  substantial  world,  both  pure  and  good  ; 
Round  these,  with  tendrils  strong  as  flesh  and  blood, 
Our  pastime  and  our  happiness  will  grow." 

Carlyle  says :  — 

"We  learn  to  read,  in  various  languages,  in 
various  sciences ;  we  learn  the  alphabet  and  letters 
of  all  manner  of  Books.  But  the  place  where  we 
are  to  get  knowledge,  even  theoretic  knowledge,  is 
the  Books  themselves  !  It  depends  on  what  we  read, 
after  all  manner  of  Professors  have  done  their  best 
for  us.  The  true  University  of  these  days  is  a 
Collection  of  Books." 

Were  we  willing  to  accept  the  testimony  of  great 
writers  and  thinkers,  we  should  but  too  quickly 
acknowledge  the  supreme  value  of  books.  James 
Baldwin,  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  "  Book  Lover," 
has  collected  more  than  a  score  of  like  utterances 
of  great  writers  "  In  Praise  of  Books."  Such  tes- 
timony may  at  least  suggest  to  some  of  us  who 
have  drunk  but  sparingly  of  the  refreshing  springs 
of  literature,  that  there  are  better  things  in  store 
for  us. 

We  will  first  inquire  into  those  vital  elements  of 
strength  which  are  peculiar  to  literature. 

One  of  the  elements  that  goes  into  the  make-up 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF   LITERATURE  1 63 

of  a  masterpiece  of  literature  is  its  underlying,  per- 
manent truth.  Whether  written  to-day  or  in  earlier 
centuries,  it  must  contain  lasting  qualities  that  do 
not  fade  away  or  bleach  out  or  decay.  Time  and 
weather  do  not  stain  or  destroy  its  merit.  Some 
classics,  as  Gray's  "  Elegy,"  or  "  Thanatopsis,"  are 
like  cut  diamonds.  The  quality  that  gives  them 
force  and  brilliancy  is  inherent,  and  the  form  in 
which  they  appear  has  been  wrought  out  by  an 
artist.  The  fundamental  value  of  a  classic  is  the 
deep,  significant  truth  which,  like  the  grain  in  fine 
woods,  is  wrought  into  its  very  structure.  The  artist 
who  moulds  a  masterpiece  like  "  Enoch  Arden"  or 
"The  Scarlet  Letter"  is  not  a  writer  of  temporary 
fame.  The  truth  to  which  he  feels  impelled  to  give 
expression  is  strong,  natural,  human  truth,  which  has 
no  beginning  and  no  end.  It  is  true  forever.  Schil- 
ler's William  Tell,  though  idealized,  is  a  human 
hero  with  the  hearty  thoughts  of  a  real  man.  Shy- 
-lock  is  a  Jew  of  flesh  and  blood,  who  will  laugh  if 
he  is  tickled,  and  break  into  anger  if  he  is  thwarted. 
The  true  poet  builds  upon  eternal  foundations.  The 
bookmaker  or  rhymer  is  satisfied  with  empty  or  fleet- 
ing thoughts  and  with  a  passing  notoriety.  New 
books  are  often  caught  up  and  blazoned  as  classics 
which  a  few  years  reveal  as  patchwork  and  tinsel. 
Time  is  a  sure  test.  Showy  tinsel  rusts  and  dulls 
its  lustre,  while  simple  poetic  truth  shines  with  grow- 
ing brightness. 


164  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Schlegel,  in  his  "  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature," 
thus  contrasts  the  false  and  the  true  (pp.  18-19):  — 

"Poetry,  taken  in  its  widest  acceptation,  as  the 
power  of  creating  what  is  beautiful,  and  represent- 
ing it  to  the  eye  or  the  ear,  is  a  universal  gift  of 
Heaven,  being  shared  to  a  certain  extent  even  by 
those  whom  we  call  barbarians  and  savages.  In- 
ternal excellence  is  alone  decisive,  and  where  this 
exists  we  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  repelled  by 
the  external  appearance.  Everything  must  be  traced 
up  to  the  root  of  human  nature:  if  it  has  sprung 
from  thence,  it  has  an  undoubted  worth  of  its  own ; 
but  if,  without  possessing  a  living  germ,  it  is  merely 
externally  attached  thereto,  it  will  never  thrive  nor 
acquire  a  proper  growth.  Many  productions  which 
appear  at  first  sight  dazzling  phenomena  in  the  prov- 
ince of  the  fine  arts,  and  which  as  a  whole  have  been 
honored  with  the  appellation  of  works  of  a  golden 
age,  resemble  the  mimic  gardens  of  children :  impa- 
tient to  witness  the  work  of  their  hands,  they  break- 
off  here  and  there  branches  and  flowers,  and  plant 
them  in  the  earth ;  everything  at  first  assumes  a  noble 
appearance :  the  childish  gardener  struts  proudly  up 
and  down  among  his  showy  beds,  till  the  rootless 
plants  begin  to  droop,  and  hang  their  withered  leaves 
and  blossoms,  and  nothing  soon  remains  but  the  bare 
twigs,  while  the  dark  forest,  on  which  no  art  or  care 
was  ever  bestowed,  and  which  towered  up  toward 
heaven  long  before  human  remembrance,  bears  every 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE   OF   LITERATURE  165 

blast  unshaken,  and  fills  the  solitary  beholder  with 
religious  aw£." 

In  his  "  Poets  and  Problems/'  George  Willis 
Cooke  fitly  portrays  the  poet's  function  (pp.  42,  32, 
and  44) :  — 

"  The  poet  must  be  either  a  teacher  or  an  artist ; 
or,  what  is  better,  he  may  be  both  in  one.  There- 
fore, he  can  never  stop  at  form  or  at  what  delights 
and  charms  merely.  He  must  go  on  to  the  expres- 
sion of  something  of  deep  and  real  abidingness  of 
thought  and  beauty.  This  comes  at  last  to  be  the 
real  thing  for  which  he  works,  which  he  seeks  to  bring 
into  expression  with  such  power  and  grandeur  in  it  as 
he  can  produce,  and  which  he  wills  to  send  forth  for 
the  sake  of  this  higher  impression  on  the  world.' ' 

"  Man  has  within  him  a  need  for  the  food  which 
does  not  perish ;  he  always  is  finding  anew  that  he 
cannot  live  by  bread  alone.  His  mind  will  crave 
truth,  his  heart  love,  somewhat  to  satisfy  the  inward 
needs  of  life.  A  heavenly  homesickness  will  draw 
him  away  from  the  material  to  those  aesthetic  and 
spiritual  realities  which  are  at  the  source  of  the  tru- 
est poetry.  Whenever  these  wants  find  fit  interpreta- 
tion, the  poet  and  the  poetic  method  of  expression 
appear  and  give  to  them  outward  forms  of  beauty. 
Consequently  the  poet  is 

*  One  in  whom  persuasion  and  belief 
Have  ripened  into  faith,  and  faith  become 
A  passionate  intuition.' 


1 66  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

11  The  true  poet  is  the  man  of  his  time  who  is  most 
alive,  who  feels,  sees,  and  knows  the  most.  In  the 
measure  of  his  life  he  is  the  greatest  man  of  his  age 
and  country.  His  eye  sees  farther  and  more  clearly ; 
his  heart  beats  more  warmly  and  with  a  more  uni- 
versal sympathy ;  his  thought  runs  deeper  and  with 
a  swifter  current,  than  is  the  case  with  other  men. 
He  is  the  oracle  and  guide,  the  inspirer  and  the 
friend,  of  those  to  whom  he  sings.  He  creates  life 
under  the  ribs  of  dead  tradition;  he  illumines  the 
present  with  heart  flames  of  beaconing  truth,  and  he 
makes  the  future  seem  like  home  joys  far  off,  but 
drawing  ever  nigher.  The  poet  is  the  world's 
lover." 

Emerson  found  the  Greeks  standing  as  close 
to  nature  and  truth  as  himself  ("  Essay  on  His- 
tory ") :  — 

"The  costly  charm  of  the  ancient  tragedy,  and 
indeed  of  all  old  literature,  is,  that  the  persons  speak 
simply,  —  speak  as  persons  who  have  great  good 
sense  without  knowing  it,  before  yet  the  reflective 
habit  has  become  the  predominant  habit  of  the  mind. 
Our  admiration  of  the  antique  is  not  admiration  of 
the  old,  but  of  the  natural.  The  Greeks  are  not 
reflective,  but  perfect  in  their  senses  and  in  their 
health,  with  the  finest  physical  organization  in  the 
world.  Adults  acted  with  the  simplicity  and  grace 
of  children." 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 67 

J.  C.  Shairp,  in  his  "  On  Poetic  Interpretation  of 
Nature  "  (p.  19),  says  :  — 

"  The  real  nature  and  intrinsic  truth  of  Poetry  will 
be  made  more  apparent,  if  we  may  turn  aside  for 
a  moment  to  reflect  on  the  essence  of  that  state  of 
mind  which  we  call  poetic,  the  genesis  of  that  crea- 
tion which  we  call  Poetry.  Whenever  any  object  of 
sense,  or  spectacle  of  the  outer  world,  any  truth  of 
reason,  or  event  of  past  history,  any  fact  of  human 
experience,  any  moral  or  spiritual  reality ;  whenever, 
in  short,  any  fact  or  object  which  the  sense,  or  the 
intellect,  or  the  soul,  or  the  spirit  of  man  can  appre- 
hend, comes  home  to  one  so  as  to  touch  him  to  the 
quick,  to  pierce  him  with  a  more  than  usual  vivid- 
ness and  sense  of  reality,  then  is  awakened  that 
stirring  of  the  imagination,  that  glow  of  emotion,  in 
which  Poetry  is  born.  There  is  no  truth  cognizable 
by  man  which  may  not  shape  itself  into  Poetry." 

The  passages  just  quoted  are  but  examples  of 
many  that  might  be  cited  expressing  the  strength 
and  scope  of  the  poetic  spirit,  its  truth-revealing 
quality,  its  penetrating  yet  comprehensive  grasp  of 
the  realities.  Shelley  says,  "A  poem  is  the  very 
image  of  life  expressed  in  its  eternal  truth";  and 
Wordsworth  that  poetry  is  "  the  breath  and  finer  spirit 
of  all  knowledge."  These  utterances  will  hardly  be 
deemed  poetical  extravagancies  to  one  who  has  read 
such  things  as  the  Ninetieth  Psalm,  "  King  Lear,"  or 
"The  Deserted  Village,"  or  "Elaine." 


1 68  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

There  is  no  form  of  inspiring  truth  which  does  not 
find  expression  in  literature,  but  it  is  preeminently  a 
revelation  of  human  life  and  experience,  a  proclama- 
tion from  the  housetops  of  the  supreme  beauty  and 
excellence  of  truth  and  virtue.  This  brings  us  close 
to  the  question  of  moral  education,  and  the  elements 
in  literature  that  contribute  to  this  end.  Literary 
critics  are  quick  to  take  alarm  at  the  propensity  of  the 
schoolmaster  and  the  moralist  to  make  literature  the 
vehicle  of  moral  training.  To  saddle  the  poets  with 
a  moral  purpose  would  be  like  changing  Pegasus  into 
a  plough-horse.  But  the  moral  quality  in  the  best 
literature  is  not  something  saddled  on,  it  is  rather 
like  the  frame  and  muscle  which  give  strength  to 
the  body,  or,  to  use  a  more  fitting  figure,  it  is  the 
very  pulse  and  heart-beat  of  the  highest  idealism. 
The  proneness  toward  moralizing,  toward  formal 
didacticism,  can  be  best  of  all  corrected  by  the  use 
of  choice  literature.  The  best  literature  is  free  from 
moral  pedantry,  but  full  of  moral  suggestion  and 
stimulus.  Edmund  Clarence  Stedman  says,  in  his 
"Nature  and  Elements  of  Poetry"  (p.  216):  — 

"The  highest  wisdom  —  that  of  ethics  —  seems 
closely  affiliated  with  poetic  truth.  A  prosaic  moral 
is  injurious  to  virtue,  by  making  it  repulsive.  The 
moment  goodness  becomes  tedious  and  unideal  in  a 
work  of  art,  it  is  not  real  goodness;  the  would-be 
artist,  though  a  very  saint,  has  mistaken  his  form  of 
expression.     On  the  other  hand,  extreme  beauty  and 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 69 

power  in  a  poem  or  picture  always  carry  a  moral, 
they  are  inseparable  from  a  certain  ethical  standard ; 
while  vice  suggests  a  depravity.  .  .  .  An  obtrusive 
moral  in  poetic  form  is  a  fraud  on  its  face,  and  out- 
lawed of  art.  But  that  all  great  poetry  is  essentially 
ethical  is  plain  from  any  consideration  of  Homer, 
Dante,  and  the  best  dramatists  and  lyrists,  old  and 
new." 

In  literature,  as  in  life,  those  persons  make  the 
strongest  moral  impression  who  have  the  least  ex- 
press discussion  of  morals.  Their  actions  speak,  and 
the  moral  qualities  appear,  not  in  didactic  formality 
and  isolation,  but  in  their  life  setting.  This  is  seen 
in  the  great  dramas,  novels,  and  epic  poems. 

These  masterpieces  are  of  strong  and  lasting  value 
to  the  schools  because  they  bring  out  human  conduct 
and  character  in  a  rich  variety  of  forms  corresponding 
to  life.  Against  the  background  of  scenery  created 
by  'the  poet,  men  and  women  and  children  march 
along  to  their  varied  performances.  Theseus,  Ulysses, 
Crusoe,  Aladdin,  Alfred,  Horatius,  Cinderella,  Portia, 
Evangeline,  —  they  speak  and  act  before  us  with  all 
the  realism  and  fidelity  to  human  instincts  peculiar  to 
the  poet's  art.  These  men  and  women,  who  are  set 
in  action  before  us,  stir  up  all  our  dormant  thought- 
energy.  We  observe  and  judge  their  motives  and 
approve  or  condemn  their  actions.  We  are  stirred  to 
sympathy  or  pity  or  anger.  Such  an  intense  study 
of  motives  and  conduct,  as  offered  in  literature,  is 


I70  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

like  a  fresh  spring  from  which  well  up  strengthening 
waters.  The  warmth  and  energy  with  which  judg- 
ments are  passed  upon  the  deeds  of  children  and 
adults  is  the  original  source  of  moral  ideas.  Litera- 
ture is  especially  rich  in  opportunities  to  register 
these  convictions.  It  is  not  the  bare  knowledge  of 
right  and  wrong  developed,  but  the  deep  springs  of 
feeling  and  emotion  are  opened,  which  gush  up  into 
volitions  and  acts. 

Just  as  we  form  opinions  of  people  from  their 
individual  acts,  and  draw  inferences  as  to  their  char- 
acter and  motives,  so  the  overt  act  of  Brutus  or  of 
Miles  Standish  stands  out  so  clear  against  the  back- 
ground of  passing  events  that  an  unerring  judgment 
falls  upon  the  doer.  A  single  act,  seen  in  its  rela- 
tions, always  calls  forth  such  a  sentence  of  good  or 
ill.  Whether  it  be  a  gentle  deed  of  mercy,  or  the 
hammer-stroke  that  fells  a  giant  or  routs  an  army,  as 
with  Charles  Martel  or  Alfred,  the  sense  of  right  or 
wrong  is  the  deep  underflow  that  gives  meaning  to  all 
events  and  stamps  character. 

There  is,  however,  a  deeper  and  more  intense  moral 
teaching  in  literature  than  that  which  flows  from  the 
right  or  wrong  of  individual  acts.  The  whole  life 
and  evolution  of  character  in  a  person,  if  graphically 
drawn,  reveal  the  principles  of  conduct  and  their 
fruitage.  Character  is  a  growth.  Deeds  are  only 
the  outward  signs  of  the  direction  in  which  the  soul 
is  moving.    A  dramatist  like  Shakespeare,  or  a  novel- 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  171 

ist  like  George  Eliot,  gives  us  a  biographical  develop- 
ment. Deeds  are  done  which  leave  their  traces. 
Tendencies  are  formed  which  grow  into  habits,  and 
thus  a  character  ripens  steadily  toward  its  reward. 
We  become  conscious  that  certain  deeper  principles 
control  thought  and  action,  whether  good  or  bad. 
There  is  a  rule  of  law,  a  sort  of  fatalism,  in  human 
life.  "  The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slow,  but  they 
grind  exceeding  small."  It  is  the  function  of  the 
dramatist  or  novelist  to  reveal  these  working  princi- 
ples in  conduct.  When  the  principle  adopted  by  the 
actor  is  a  good  one,  it  works  out  well-being  in  spite  of 
misfortunes ;  when  evil,  the  furies  are  on  the  track  of 
the  evil-doer.  Men  do  not  gather  grapes  of  thorns 
or  figs  of  thistles.  As  we  move  on  from  step  to  step 
in  a  life-history,  the  sympathy  deepens.  The  fatal 
influence  of  a  false  step,  followed  up,  is  keenly  felt 
by  the  reader ;  the  upward  tendency  of  a  right  act 
inspires  and  lifts  into  freedom.  But  whether  we  love 
or  hate  or  pity,  the  character  moves  on  in  the  course 
which  his  deeds  mark  out.  When  finally  he  is  over- 
whelmed in  shame  and  defeat,  we  see  the  early  ten- 
dencies and  later  forces  which  have  led  to  this  result. 
If  ethical  triumph  is  achieved,  we  recognize  the  re- 
ward of  generous,  unselfish  impulses  followed  out. 

As  the  interest  in  such  a  life-history  deepens,  the 
lessons  it  evolves  come  out  with  convincing  and 
overwhelming  power.  The  effect  of  a  great  novel 
or  drama  is   more   intense   and    lasting    than    any 


172  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

sermon.  The  elements  of  thought  and  feeling  have 
been  accumulating  energy  and  momentum  through 
all  the  scenes,  and  when  contracted  into  a  single 
current  at  the  close  they  sweep  forward  with  the 
strength  of  a  river.  A  masterpiece  works  at  the 
foundations  of  our  sympathies  and  moral  judgments. 
To  bring  ourselves  under  the  spell  of  a  great  author 
and  to  allow  him,  hour  after  hour  and  perhaps  for 
days  in  succession,  to  sway  our  feelings  and  rule 
far  up  among  the  sources  of  our  moral  judgments, 
is  to  give  him  great  opportunity  to  stamp  our  char- 
acter with  his  convictions.  We  seldom  spend  so 
many  hours  in  close  companionship  with  a  living 
friend  as  with  some  master  of  the  art  of  character- 
delineation.  Children  are  susceptible  to  this  strong 
influence.  Many  of  them  take  easily  to  books,  and 
many  others  need  but  wise  direction  to  bring  them 
under  the  touch  of  their  formative  influence.  A 
book  sometimes  produces  a  more  lasting  effect  upon 
the  character  and  conduct  of  a  child  than  a  close 
companion.  Nor  is  this  true  only  in  the  case  of 
book-lovers.  It  is  probable  that  the  great  majority 
of  children  may  feel  the  wholesome  effect  of  such 
books  if  wisely  used  at  the  right  time.  To  select 
a  few  of  the  best  books  as  companions  to  a  child, 
and  teach  him  to  love  their  companionship,  is  one 
of  the  most  hopeful  things  in  education.  The  boy 
or  girl  who  reads  some  of  our  choice  epics,  stories, 
novels,  dramas,  and  biographies,  allowing  the  mind 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 73 

to  ponder  upon  the  problems  of  conduct  involved, 
will  receive  many  deep  and  permanent  moral  lessons. 
The  realism  with  which  the  artist  clothes  his  char- 
acters only  strengthens  the  effect  and  makes  them 
lasting  food  for  thought  in  the  coming  years.  Even 
in  early  childhood  we  are  able  to  detect  what  is 
noble  and  debasing  in  conduct  as  thus  graphically 
and  naturally  revealed,  and  a  child  forms  an  unerring 
judgment  along  moral  lines.  The  best  influence  that 
literature  has  to  bestow,  therefore,  may  produce  its  ef- 
fect early  in  tender  years,  where  impressions  are  deep 
and  permanent.  There  are  many  other  elements  of 
lasting  culture-value  in  the  study  of  literature,  but 
first  of  all  the  deep  and  permanent  truths  taught  by 
the  classics  are  those  of  human  life  and  conduct. 

George  Willis  Cooke  gives  clear  and  simple  ex- 
pression to  the  ethical  force  in  poetry  ("  Poets  and 
Problems,"  p.  46) :  — 

"True  poetry  is  for  instruction  as  much  as  for 
pleasure,  though  it  inculcate  no  formal  lessons. 
Right  moral  teaching  is  by  example  far  more  than 
by  precept ;  and  the  real  poet  teaches  through  the 
higher  purpose  he  arouses,  by  the  stimulus  he  gives, 
and  by  the  purer  motive  he  awakens.  He  gives 
no  precept  to  recite,  no  homilies  to  con  over,  no  rules 
for  formal  repetition ;  but  he  gives  the  spirit  of  life 
md  the  impulse  of  true  activity.  An  infallible  test 
Df  the  great  poet  is  that  he  inspires  us  with  a  sense 
3f  the  richness  and  grandeur  of  life." 


174  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Shairp,  in  his  "On  Poetic  Interpretation  of 
Nature  "  (pp.  23-24),  says  :  — 

"  Imagination  in  its  essence  seems  to  be,  from  the 
first,  intellect  and  feeling  blended  and  interpenetrat- 
ing each  other.  Thus  it  would  seem  that  purely 
intellectual  acts  belong  to  the  surface  and  outside 
of  our  nature,  —  as  you  pass  onward  to  the  depths, 
the  more  vital  places  of  the  soul,  the  intellectual, 
the  emotional,  and  the  moral  elements  are  all  equally 
at  work,  —  and  this  in  virtue  of  their  greater  reality, 
their  more  essential  truth,  their  nearer  contact  with 
the  centre  of  things.  To  this  region  belong  all 
acts  of  high  imagination  —  the  region  intermediate 
between  pure  understanding  and  moral  affection, 
partaking  of  both  elements,  looking  equally  both 
ways." 

Besides  the  moral  element  or  fundamental  truth  in- 
volved, every  classic  masterpiece  is  infused  therefore 
with  an  element  of  imagination.  Whether  in  prose  or 
verse,  the  artist  reveals  himself  in  the  creative  touch. 
The  rich  coloring  and  imagery  of  his  own  mind  give 
a  tint  to  every  object.  The  literary  artist  is  never 
lacking  in  a  certain,  perhaps  indefinable,  charm.  He 
possesses  a  magic  wand  that  transforms  into  beauty 
every  commonplace  object  that  is  met.  We  observe 
this  in  Irving,  Hawthorne,  Warner,  as  well  as  in  still 
greater  literary  masters.  Our  poets,  novelists,  and 
essayists  must  all  dip  their  pens  in  this  magic  ink. 
Even  Webster  and  Burke,  Lincoln  and  Sumner,  must 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 75 

rise  to  the  region  of  fancy  if  they  give  their  thought 
sufficient  strength  of  wing  to  carry  it  into  the  coming 
years.  The  themes  upon  which  they  discoursed 
kindled  the  imagination  and  caused  them  to  break 
forth  into  figures  of  speech  and  poetic  license.  The 
creative  fancy  is  that  which  gives  beauty,  pictu- 
resqueness,  and  charm  to  all  the  work  of  poet  or 
novelist.  This  element  of  fancy  diffuses  itself  as 
a  living  glow  through  every  classic  product  that 
was  made  to  endure.  In  the  masters  of  style  the 
rhythmic  flow  and  energy  of  language  are  enlivened 
by  poetic  imagery.  Figures  of  speech  in  archi- 
tectural simplicity  and  chasteness  stand  out  to  sym- 
bolize thought.  That  keenness  and  originality  which 
astonishes  us  in  master  thinkers  is  due  to  the  magic 
vigor  and  picturesqueness  of  their  images.  Under- 
neath and  permeating  all  this  wealth  of  ideas  is 
the  versatile  and  original  mind  which  sees  everything 
in  the  glow  of  its  own  poetic  temperament,  kin- 
dling the  susceptible  reader  to  like  inspiration. 
Among  literary  masters  this  creative  power  shows 
itself  in  an  infinite  variety  of  forms,  pours  itself 
through  a  hundred  divergent  channels,  and  links 
itself  so  closely  with  the  individuality  of  the  writer 
as  to  merge  imperceptibly  into  his  character  and 
style.  But  as  we  cannot  secure  wholesome  bread 
without  yeast,  so  we  shall  fail  of  a  classic  without 
imagination. 

Stedman     says :    "  If   anything     great    has    been 


176  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

achieved  without  exercise  of  the  imagination,  I  do 
not  know  it.  I  am  referring  to  striking  productions 
and  achievements,  not  to  acts  of  virtue.  Neverthe- 
less, at  the  last  analysis,  it  might  be  found  that 
imagination  has  impelled  even  the  saints  and 
martyrs  of  humanity.  Imagination  is  the  creative 
origin  of  what  is  fine,  not  in  art  and  song  alone, 
but  also  in  all  forms  of  action  —  in  campaigns,  civil 
triumphs,  material  conquest.  I  have  mentioned  its 
indispensability  to  the  scientists."  He  says  further  : 
"  Yet  if  there  is  one  gift  which  sets  Shakespeare  at 
a  distance  even  from  those  who  approach  him  on 
one  or  another  side,  it  is  that  of  his  imagination. 
As  he  is  the  chief  of  poets,  we  infer  that  the  faculty 
in  which  he  is  supereminent  must  be  the  greatest  of 
poetic  endowments.  Yes:  in  his  wonderland,  as 
elsewhere,  imagination  is  king." 

Not  only  is  it  true  that  the  vitality  of  poets  and 
prose  writers,  the  conceptive  power  of  scientists, 
inventors,  and  business  organizers,  depend  upon 
the  fertility  and  strength  of  the  imagination,  but 
throughout  the  broader  reaches  of  common  humanity 
this  power  is  everywhere  present  —  constructive 
and  creative.  Max  Miiller  has  shown  that  the 
root  words  of  language  are  imbedded  in  metaphor, 
that  "  Language  is  fossil  poetry."  Again,  the 
mythologies  of  the  different  races,  grand  and  stately, 
or  fair  and  lovely,  are  the  immediate  product  of 
the  folk  mind. 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE 


177 


It  has  been  said  that  "  The  man  of  culture  is 
preeminently  a  man  of  imagination."  But  the 
kind  of  mental  alertness,  freedom,  and  joy  which  is 
suggested  by  the  term  culture  may  spring  up  in  the 
heart  of  every  boy  and  girl  endowed  with  a  modicum 
of  human  nature.  Hamilton  Wright  Mabie,  in  his 
"  Books  and  Culture"  (pp.  148-149),  says  :  — 

"The  development  of  the  imagination,  upon  the 
power  of  which  both  absorption  of  knowledge  and 
creative  capacity  depend,  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of 
supreme  importance.  To  this  necessity  educators 
will  some  day  open  their  eyes,  and  educational  sys- 
tems will  some  day  conform ;  meantime,  it  must  be 
done  mainly  by  individual  work.  Knowledge,  disci- 
pline, and  technical  training  of  the  best  sort  are 
accessible  on  every  hand ;  but  the  development  of 
the  faculty  which  unites  all  these  in  the  highest  form 
of  activity  must  be  secured  mainly  by  personal  effort. 
The  richest  and  most  accessible  material  for  this 
highest  education  is  furnished  by  art ;  and  the  form 
of  art  within  reach  of  every  civilized  man,  at  all 
times,  in  all  places,  is  the  book.  To  these  master- 
pieces, which  have  been  called  the  books  of  life,  all 
men  may  turn  with  the  assurance  that  as  the  supreme 
achievements  of  the  imagination  they  have  the  power 
of  awakening,  stimulating,  and  enriching  it  in  the 
highest  degree." 

Besides  the  strong  thread  of  truth  and  the  work 
of    the   swift-glancing   shuttle   of    imagination,    the 


178  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

woven  fabric  of  the  literary  master  must  show  a 
beauteous  pattern  or  form.  The  melody  and  music 
of  poetry  spring  from  a  rhythmic  form.  Appar- 
ently stiff  and  formal,  it  is  yet  the  consensus  of 
critics  that  only  through  this  channel  can  the  soul 
of  truth  and  beauty  escape  from  the  poet,  and  mani- 
fest itself  to  others.  Says  George  Willis  Cooke, 
"The  poet  worships  at  the  triple  shrine  of  beauty, 
love,  and  truth ;  and  his  mission  is  to  teach  men  that 
all  other  objects  and  places  of  veneration  are  but 
faint  imitations  of  this  one  form  of  faith.' '  But  the 
spirit  of  this  worship  can  best  embody  itself  in  the 
poetic  form. 

Schlegel,  in  his  "Dramatic  Art  and  Literature " 
(p.  340),  says  :  — 

"  The  works  of  genius  cannot  therefore  be  per- 
mitted to  be  without  form ;  but  of  this  there  is  no 
danger.  .  .  .  [Some]  critics  .  .  .  interpret  it  [form] 
merely  in  a  mechanical,  and  not  in  an  organical 
sense.  .  .  .  Organical  form,  again,  is  innate ;  it 
unfolds  itself  from  within,  and  acquires  its  determi- 
nation contemporaneously  with  the  perfect  develop- 
ment of  the  germ.  We  everywhere  discover  such 
forms  in  nature  throughout  the  whole  range  of  living 
powers,  from  the  crystallization  of  salts  and  minerals 
to  plants  and  flowers,  and  from  these  again  to  the 
human  body.  In  the  fine  arts,  as  well  as  in  the 
domain  of  nature,  —  the  supreme  artist,  —  all  genuine 
forms  are  organical,  that  is,  determined  by  the  qual- 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 79 

ity  of  the  work.  In  a  word,  the  form  is  nothing  but 
a  significant  exterior,  the  speaking  physiognomy  of 
each  thing,  which,  as  long  as  it  is  not  disfigured  by 
any  destructive  accident,  gives  a  true  evidence  of  its 
hidden  essence.' ' 

Some  products,  like  the  "  Paradise  Lost,"  "Thana- 
topsis,"  and  "  Hamlet,"  show  such  a  perfect  fitness  of 
form  to  thought  that  every  effort  to  change  or  mod- 
ify is  profanation.  The  classic  form  and  thought  go 
together.  As  far  as  possible,  therefore,  it  is  desir- 
able to  leave  these  creations  in  their  native  strength, 
and  not  to  mar  the  work  of  masters.  The  poet  has 
moulded  his  thought  and  feeling  into  these  forms 
and  transfused  them  with  his  own  imagery  and  indi- 
viduality. The  power  of  the  writer  is  in  his  peculiar 
mingling  of  the  poetic  elements.  Our  English  and 
American  classics,  therefore,  should  be  read  in  their 
original  form  as  far  as  possible. 

A  fixed  form  is  not  always  necessary.  We  need 
many  of  the  stories  and  epics  that  were  written  in 
other  languages.  Fortunately  some  of  the  works  of 
the  old  poets  are  capable  of  taking  on  a  new;  dress. 
The  story  of  Ulysses  has  been  told  in  verse  and 
prose,  in  translation,  paraphrase,  and  simple  nar- 
rative for  children.  Much,  indeed  of  the  old' 
beauty  and  original  strength  of  the  poem  is  lost  in 
all  these  renderings  ;  but  the  central  truths  which 
give  the  poetic  work  its  persistent  value  are  still 
retained.     Such  a  poem  is  like  a  person ;  the  under- 


l8o  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

lying  thought,  though  dressed  up  by  different  per- 
sons with  varying  taste  and  skill,  is  yet  the  same ; 
the  same  heart  beats  beneath  the  kingly  robes  and 
the  peasants  frock.  Robinson  Crusoe  has  had  many 
renderings,  but  remains  the  same  old  story  in  spite  of 
variations.  The  Bible  has  been  translated  into  all 
modern  tongues,  but  it  is  a  classic  in  each.  The  Ger- 
mans claim  they  have  as  good  a  Shakespeare  as  we. 

But  many  of  the  best  masterpieces  were  originally 
written  in  other  languages,  and  to  be  of  use  to  us  the 
ancient  form  of  thought  must  be  broken.  The  spirit 
of  the  old  masters  must  be  poured  into  new  moulds. 
In  educating  our  children  we  need  the  stories  of 
Bellerophon,  Perseus,  Hercules,  Rustum,  Tell,  Sieg- 
fried, Virginius,  Roland,  Wallace,  King  Arthur. 
Happily  some  of  the  best  modern  writers  have  come 
to  our  help.  Walter  Scott,  Macaulay,  Dickens, 
Kingsley,  Hawthorne,  Irving,  and  Arnold  have 
gathered  up  the  old  wine  and  poured  it  into  new 
bottles.  They  have  told  the  old  stories  in  simple 
Anglo-Saxon  for  the  boys  and  girls  of  our  homes 
and  schools.  Nor  are  these  renderings  of  the  old 
masters  lacking  in  that  element  of  fancy  and  vigor 
of  expression  which  distinguishes  fertile  writers. 
*  They  have  entered  freely  and  fondly  into  the  old 
spirit,  and  have  allowed  it  to  pour  itself  copiously 
through  these  modern  channels.  It  takes  a  poet,  in 
fact,  to  modernize  an  ancient  story.  There  are, 
indeed,  many  renderings  of  the  old   stories  which 


EDUCATIONAL   VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  l8l 

are  not  ideal,  which,  however,  we  sometimes  use  for 
lack  of  anything  better. 

From  the  preceding  discussion  we  may  conclude 
that  a  choice  piece  of  literature  must  embody  a  last- 
ing truth,  reveal  the  permeating  glow  of  an  artist's 
imagination,  and  find  expression  in  some  form  of 
beauty.  But  these  elements  are  so  mingled  and 
interlaced,  so  organically  grown  into  one  living  plant, 
that  even  the  critics  have  given  up  the  effort  to 
dissect  and  isolate  them. 

There  are  other  strength-conferring  qualities  in 
good  literature  which  will  be  discussed  more  fully  in 
those  chapters  which  deal  with  the  particular  literary 
materials  selected  for  use  in  the  schools. 

Among  the  topics  to  be  treated  in  connection  with 
materials  which  illustrate  them,  are  the  following: 
the  strong  handling  of  essential  historical  ideas  in 
literature ;  the  best  novel  and  drama,  as  sources  and 
means  of  culture ;  religious  ideals  as  embodied  in  the 
choicest  forms  of  literature;  the  powerful  patriotic 
and  social  influence  of  the  best  writers;  the  educa- 
tive quality  of  the  humorous  phases  of  literature ;  the 
great  writers  as  models  of  skill  and  enthusiasm  in 
teaching. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  the  significance  of  literature 
among  great  studies  has  been  but  briefly  and  inade- 
quately suggested  by  these  few  quotations  and  com- 
ments. It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  similar  testimony 
from  the  most  competent  judges.     But  enough  has 


1 82  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

been  said  to  remind  teachers  of  this  rich  treasure 
house  of  educative  materials.  Those  teachers  who 
wish  to  probe  deeper  into  this  subject  will  find  that  it 
has  been  handled  in  a  masterly  way  by  some  of  the 
great  essayists  and  critics.  We  will  suggest  the  fol- 
lowing for  more  elaborate  study  :  — 

Ruskin's  "Sesame  and  Lilies."  The  power  and 
charm  of  Ruskin's  writing  appears  in  full  measure  in 
these  essays. 

Carlyle's  "  Heroes  and  Hero  Worship,"  especially 
the  chapters  on  "  The  Hero  as  Poet,"  and  "  The  Hero 
as  Man  of  Letters." 

Shelley's  "  Defence  of  Poetry  "  (edited  by  Cook, 
and  published  by  Ginn  &  Co.)  is  a  literary  master- 
piece of  rare  beauty  and  charm. 

Emerson's  "  Essay  on  History." 

George  Willis  Cooke,  "  Poets  and  Problems " 
(Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.).  The  first  chapter,  "  The 
Poet  as  Teacher,"  is  very  suggestive,  while  the  chap- 
ters on  Tennyson,  Ruskin,  and  Browning  are  fine 
introductions  for  those  who  will  study  the  authors 
themselves. 

"  The  Book  Lover,"  James  Baldwin  (McClurg  & 
Co.). 

Charles  Kingsley's  "  Literary  and  General  Essays" 
(Macmillan  &  Co.).  Chapter  on  "  English  Literature," 
and  others. 

Scudder's  "  Literature  in  Schools "  (Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co.).     Excellent  for  teachers. 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUE    OF    LITERATURE  1 83 

J.  C.  Shairp,  "On  Poetic  Interpretation  of  Na- 
ture "  (Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.). 

Matthew  Arnold's  "  Sweetness  and  Light." 

Lowell's  "  Books  and  Libraries "  (Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co.). 

Edmund  Clarence  Stedman's  "The  Nature  and 
Elements  of  Poetry  "  (Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.). 

It  is  not  implied  that  even  the  essays  of  critics  on 
the  merits  of  literature  can  take  the  place  of  a  study 
of  the  works  of  the  best  writers. 


CHAPTER  X 
The  Use  of  Masterpieces  as  Wholes 

With  the  increasing  tendency  to  consider  the 
literary  quality  and  fitness  of  the  reading  matter  used 
in  our  schools,  longer  poems  and  stories,  like  "  Snow 
Bound,"  "  Rip  Van  Winkle,"  "  Hiawatha,"  "  Alad- 
din," "The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,"  "The 
Great  Stone  Face,"  and  even  "  Lady  of  the  Lake  " 
and  "Julius  Caesar,"  are  read  and  studied  as  com- 
plete wholes.  Many  of  the  books  now  used  as  read- 
ers are  not  collections  of  short  selections  and  extracts, 
as  formerly,  but  editions  of  single  poems,  or  kindred 
groups,  like  "  Sohrab  and  Rustum,"  or  the  "  Ara- 
bian Nights,"  or  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  or  a  collection 
of  a  few  complete  stories  or  poems  of  a  single  author, 
as  Hawthorne's  "  Stories  of  the  White  Hills,"  or 
Lowell's  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  and  other  poems. 
Even  the  regular  series  of  readers  are  often  made  up 
largely  of  longer  poems  and  prose  masterpieces. 

The  significance  of  this  change  is  the  deeper  re- 
gard which  is  being  paid  to  good  literature  as  a  strong 
agency  of  true  culture.  The  real  thought  and  the 
whole  thought  of  the  best  authors  is  sought  for,  pre- 
supposing, of  course,  that  they  are  within  the  range 

184 


THE   USE   OF    MASTERPIECES   AS   WHOLES  1 85 

of  the  children's  comprehension.  The  reading  books 
of  a  generation  ago  contained  oftentimes  just  as 
choice  literary  materials  as  now ;  but  the  chief  pur- 
pose of  its  selection  was  to  give  varied  exercise  in 
oral  reading,  not  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  good  litera- 
ture by  furnishing  complete  poetic  and  prose  speci- 
mens for  full  and  enthusiastic  study.  The  teachers 
who  lay  stress  on  elocutionary  skill  are  not  quite 
satisfied  with  this  drift  toward  literary  study  as  such. 
It  remains  to  be  seen  how  both  aims,  good  oral  ren- 
dering and  superior  literary  training,  can  be  secured 
at  the  same  time. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  of  this  volume  we 
give  a  carefully  selected  series  of  the  literary  ma- 
terials adapted  to  the  different  grades.  This  body 
of  selections,  taken  from  a  wide  range  of  litera- 
ture, will  constitute  a  basis  for  our  whole  treatise. 
Having  made  plain  by  our  previous  discussion  what 
we  understand  by  the  quality  of  literary  masterpieces, 
we  will  next  consider  why  these  poems  and  stories 
should  be  read  and  studied  as  complete  wholes,  not 
by  fragments  or  by  extracts,  but  as  whole  works  of 
literary  art. 

1.  A  stronger  interest  is  developed  by  the  study, 
for  several  weeks,  of  a  longer  complete  masterpiece. 
The  interest  grows  as  we  move  into  such  a  story 
or  poem  as  "Sohrab  and  Rustum."  A  longer  and 
closer  acquaintance  with  the  characters  represented 
produces   a  stronger  personal   sympathy,  as  in  the 


1 86  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

case  of  Cordelia  in  "  King  Lear,"  or  of  Silas  Marner. 
The  time  usually  spent  in  school  upon  some  classic 
fragment  or  selection  is  barely  sufficient  to  start  up 
an  interest.  It  does  not  bring  us  past  the  threshold 
of  a  work  of  art.  We  drop  it  just  at  the  point  where 
the  momentum  of  interest  begins  to  show  itself. 
Think  of  the  full  story  of  Aladdin  or  Crusoe  or 
Ulysses.  Take  an  extract  from  "  Lady  of  the 
Lake,"  "Rip  Van  Winkle,"  "Evangeline."  The 
usual  three  or  four  pages  given  in  the  reader,  even 
if  taken  from  the  first  part,  would  scarcely  suffice  to 
bring  the  children  into  the  movement  of  the  story; 
but  oftentimes  the  fragment  is  extracted  from  the 
body  of  the  play  without  preliminary  or  sequence. 
In  reading  a  novel,  story,  or  poem,  we  do  not  begin  to 
feel  strongly  this  interest  till  two  or  three  chapters  are 
passed.  Then  it  begins  to  deepen,  the  plot  thickens, 
and  a  desire  springs  up  to  follow  out  the  fortune  of 
the  characters.  We  become  interested  in  the  persons, 
and  our  thoughts  are  busy  with  them  in  the  midst  of 
other  employments  or  in  leisure  moments.  The  per- 
sonality of  the  hero  takes  hold  of  us  as  that  of  an 
intimate  friend.  Such  an  interest,  gradually  awakened 
and  deepened  as  we  move  into  the  comprehension  of 
a  work  of  art,  is  the  open  sesame  to  all  the  riches  of 
an  author's  storehouse  of  thought. 

This  kind  of  interest  presupposes  in  the  children 
the  ability  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  the  thought,  and 
even  the  style,  of  the  author.     Interest  in  this  sense 


THE    USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS   WHOLES  1 87 

is  a  fundamental  test  of  the  suitableness  of  the  story 
or  poem  to  lay  hold  of  the  inner  life  of  the  children. 
In  many  cases  there  will  be  difficulties  at  the  outset 
in  awakening  this  genuine  form  of  interest,  but 
if  the  selection  is  appropriate,  the  preparation 
and  skill  of  the  teacher  will  be  equal  to  its 
accomplishment. 

As  we  get  deeper  into  the  study  of  masterpieces, 
we  shall  discover  that  there  are  stronger  and  deepen- 
ing sources  of  a  genuine  interest.  Even  the  difficul- 
ties and  problems  which  are  supposed  to  dampen 
interest  will  be  found,  with  proper  study,  to  be  the 
source  of  a  stronger  appreciation  and  enthusiasm. 
The  refining  and  strengthening  of  these  interests  in 
literature  leads  on  steadily  to  the  final  goal  of  study, 
a  cultivated  taste  and  habit  of  using  the  best  books. 

2.  A  complete  work  of  a  master  writer  is  a  unit 
of  thought.  It  is  almost  as  complete  a  whole  as 
a  living  organism.  Its  parts,  like  the  branches  of  a 
tree,  have  no  vitality  except  in  communication  with 
the  living  trunk.  In  the  "  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal," 
there  is  a  single  thought,  like  a  golden  thread,  run- 
ning through  the  poem,  which  gives  unity  and  per- 
fection to  it.  The  separate  parts  of  the  poem  have 
very  great  intrinsic  beauty  and  charm,  but  their 
deeper  and  more  vital  relation  is  to  this  central 
thought.  The  story  of  "The  Great  Stone  Face"  is 
the  grouping  of  a  series  of  interesting  episodes  along 
the  path  of  a  single  developing  motive  in  the  life  of 


1 88  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Ernest.  A  great  writer  would  scarcely  waste  his 
time  in  trying  to  produce  a  work  of  art  without  a 
controlling  motive,  collecting  his  thought,  as  it  were, 
around  a  vacuum.  This  hub-thought  must  become 
the  centre  of  all  intelligent  study.  The  effort  to 
unravel  the  motive  of  the  author  is  the  deeper  stim- 
ulus of  thoughtful  work  by  both  teacher  and  pupils. 

In  other  studies,  like  geography,  history,  and 
natural  science,  we  are  gradually  picking  out  the 
important  units  of  study,  the  centres  of  thought  and 
interest,  the  types.  This  effort  to  escape  from  the 
wilderness  of  jumbled  and  fractional  details  into  the 
sunlit  region  of  controlling  ideas,  is  a  substantial 
sign  of  progress  in  the  teacher's  work.  In  literature 
these  units  have  been  already  wrought  out  into  per- 
fect wholes  by  first-class  thinkers. 

In  the  greatest  of  all  studies,  the  works  of  the 
literary  masters,  we  have  the  surest  models  of  inspir- 
ing thought,  organized  and  focussed  upon  essential 
topics.  Teachers,  in  some  cases,  are  so  little  accus- 
tomed to  lift  their  heads  above  the  tall  grass  and 
weeds  around  them,  that  they  are  overtaken  by  sur- 
prise and  bewilderment  when  called  upon  to  take 
broad  and  liberal  surveys  of  the  topography  of 
school  studies. 

It  is  fortunate  that  we  have,  within  the  fenced 
boundaries  of  the  commonly  recognized  school 
course,  these  shining  specimens  of  organized,  and, 
what  we  might  call,  intelligent  thought. 


THE    USE    OF    MASTERPIECES    AS    WHOLES  1 89 

We  can  set  the  children  at  work  digging  for  the 
root-thoughts  of  those  who  are  the  masters  of  strong 
thinking.  This  digging  process  is  not  wholly  out 
of  place  with  children.  Their  abundant  energy  can 
be  turned  to  digging  if  there  is  anything  worth 
digging  for.  Ruskin,  in  "Sesame  and  Lilies," 
says :  — 

"And  it  is  just  the  same  with  men's  best  wisdom. 
When  you  come  to  a  good  book,  you  must  ask  your- 
self :  '  Am  I  inclined  to  work  as  an  Australian  miner 
would  ?  Are  my  pickaxes  and  shovels  in  good 
order,  and  am  I  in  good  trim  myself,  my  sleeves  well 
up  to  the  elbow,  and  my  breath  good,  and  my  tem- 
per ? '  And,  keeping  the  figure  a  little  longer,  even 
at  cost  of  tiresomeness,  for  it  is  a  thoroughly  useful 
one,  the  metal  you  are  in  search  of,  being  the 
author's  mind  or  meaning,  his  words  are  as  the  rock 
which  you  have  to  crush  and  smelt  in  order  to  get 
at  it.  And  your  pickaxes  are  your  own  care,  wit 
and  learning;  your  smelting  furnace  is  your  own 
thoughtful  soul.  Do  not  hope  to  get  at  any  good 
author's  meaning  without  those  tools  and  that  fire ; 
often  you  will  need  sharpest,  finest  chiselling,  and 
patientest  fusing,  before  you  can  gather  one  grain 
of  the  metal." 

It  is  not  the  dreamy,  hammock-soothing,  vacation 
idling  with  pleasant  stories  that  we  are  now  consider- 
ing. This  happy  lotus-land  has  also  its  fitting  sea- 
son, in  the  sultry  heats  of  summer,  when  tired  people 


190  SPECIAL    METHOD   IN    READING 

put  their  minds  out  to  grass.  Any  study  will  grow 
dull  and  sleepy  that  lacks  energy. 

Teachers  who  shrink  back  with  anxiety  lest  works 
such  as  Irving's  "  Sketch  Book/'  "  Evangeline," 
"  Merchant  of  Venice/'  and  "  Marmion,"  are  too 
hard  for  children  in  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
grades,  should  consider  for  a  moment  what  classical 
preparatory  schools  for  centuries  have  required  of 
boys  from  ten  to  twelve  years  of  age,  the  study  of 
"Caesar,"  "Eutropius,"  and  "  Virgil,' '  of  "  Herod- 
otus" and  "Xenophon,"  in  unknown  languages  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  master.  Yet  it  has  been  claimed 
for  ages,  by  the  best  scholars,  that  this  was  the  true 
strength-producing  discipline  for  boys.  It  would 
hardly  be  extravagant  to  say  that  the  masterpieces 
of  literature  now  used,  in  our  intermediate  and  gram- 
mar grades,  are  not  a  quarter  so  difficult  and  four 
times  as  appropriate  and  interesting  as  the  Latin 
and  Greek  authors  just  cited.  It  seems  obvious  that 
we  are  summoned  to  a  more  energetic  study  and 
treatment  of  our  masterpieces. 

This  struggle  to  get  at  the  deeper  undercurrent 
of  thought  in  an  author  is  the  true  stimulus  and  dis- 
cipline of  such  studies. 

A  great  author  approaches  his  deeper  thought  step 
by  step.  He  has  many  side-lights,  variety  of  episode 
and  preliminary.  He  provides  for  the  proper  scenery 
and  setting  for  his  thought.  He  does  not  bring  us 
at  once,  point  blank,  upon   his   hero   or   upon   the 


THE   USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS    WHOLES  igi 

lero's  fate.  There  is  great  variety  of  inference  and 
suggestion  in  the  preparation  and  grouping  of  the 
artist's  work.  As  in  climbing  some  mountain  peak, 
we  wind  through  canon,  along  rugged  hillsides  and 
spurs,  only  now  and  then  catching  a  glimpse  of  the 
towering  object  of  our  climb,  reaching,  after  many  a 
devious  and  toilsome  march,  the  rugged  backbone 
of  the  giant;  so  the  poet  carries  us  along  many  a 
winding  road,  through  byways  and  thickets,  over 
hill  and  plain,  before  he  brings  us  into  full  view  of 
the  main  object  of  search.  But  after  awhile  we  do 
stand  face  to  face  with  a  real  character,  and  are  con- 
scious of  the  framework  upon  which  it  is  built.  King 
Saul  has  run  his  course  and  is  about  to  reap  the 
reward  of  his  doings,  to  lie  down  in  the  bed  which 
he  has  prepared.  We  see  the  author's  deeper  plan, 
and  realize  that  his  characters  act  along  the  line  of 
the  silent  but  invincible  laws  of  social  life  and  con- 
duct. These  deep  significant  truths  of  human  expe- 
rience do  not  lie  upon  the  surface.  If  we  are  really 
to  get  a  deep  insight  into  human  character,  as  por- 
trayed by  the  masters,  we  must  not  be  in  haste.  We 
should  be  willing  to  follow  our  guide  patiently  and 
await  results. 

A  complete  masterpiece,  studied  as  a  whole,  reveals 
the  author's  skill  and  organizing  power  in  working 
out  his  fundamental  theme.  A  play,  a  poem,  a 
novel,  a  biography,  is  a  unit.  No  single  part  can 
give  a  satisfactory  idea  of  the  whole.     A  single  scene 


192  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

from  "  Crusoe  "  or  from  the  "  Merchant  of  Venice  " 
does  not  give  us  the  author's  meaning.  An  extract 
from  one  of  Burke's  speeches  supplies  no  adequate 
notion  of  his  statesmanlike  grasp  of  thought.  To 
get  some  impression  of  what  Daniel  Webster  was  we 
must  read  a  whole  speech.  A  literary  product  is  like 
a  masterpiece  of  architecture.  The  whole  must  stand 
out  in  the  due  proportion  of  its  parts  to  reveal  the 
master's  thought. 

"  Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her : 
Tell  the  towers  thereof. 

Mark  ye  well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her  palaces ; 
That  ye  may  tell  it  to  the  generations  following." 

To  have  read  through  with  care  and  thoughtful 
appreciation  a  single  literary  masterpiece  and  to  have 
felt  the  full  measure  of  a  master's  power,  is  a  rare 
and  lasting  stroke  of  culture.  As  children  move  up 
through  the  grades  they  may  receive  the  strong  and 
abiding  impress  of  the  masters  of  style.  Let  it  come 
to  them  in  its  undiminished  strength.  To  feel  the 
powerful  tonic  effect  of  the  best  stories  and  poems 
suited  to  their  age  will  give  them  such  an  apprecia- 
tion of  what  is  genuine  and  good  in  literature,  that 
frivolous  and  trashy  reading  is  measured  at  its  true 
value. 

The  fragments  and  extracts  with  which  our  higher 
readers  are  filled  are  not  without  power  and  influence 
upon  culture.  They  have  given  many  children  their 
first  taste  of  the  beauty  and  strength  of  literature. 


THE   USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS    WHOLES  1 93 

But  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  tear  these  gems  of 
thought  from  their  setting  in  literature  and  life,  and 
to  jam  them  into  the  close  and  crowded  quarters  of  a 
text-book.  Why  satisfy  ourselves  with  crumbs  and 
fragments  when  a  full  rich  feast  may  be  had  for  the 
asking  ? 

In  some  cases  it  is  said  that  the  reading  of  frag- 
ments of  large  poems  or  plays  has  excited  curiosity 
and  led  to  the  reading  of  the  larger  wholes.  This  is 
doubtless  true,  but  in  the  greater  number  of  cases 
we  are  inclined  to  think  the  habit  of  being  satisfied 
with  fragments  has  checked  the  formation  of  any 
appreciation  of  literary  wholes.  This  tendency  to 
be  satisfied  with  piecemeal  performances  illustrates 
painfully  the  shallowness  and  incoherency  of  much 
of  our  educational  work.  If  teachers  cannot  think 
beyond  a  broken  page  of  Shakespeare,  why  should 
children  burden  themselves  with  the  labor  of  thought  ? 
Charles  Kingsley,  in  his  essay  on  English  literature, 
says : — 

"  But  I  must  plead  for  whole  works.  '  Extracts ' 
and  '  Select  Beauties '  are  about  as  practical  as  the 
worthy  in  the  old  story,  who,  wishing  to  sell  his  house, 
brought  one  of  the  bricks  to  market  as  a  specimen. 
It  is  equally  unfair  on  the  author  and  on  the  pupil ; 
for  it  is  impossible  to  show  the  merits  or  demerits 
of  a  work  of  art,  even  to  explain  the  truth  or  false- 
hood of  any  particular  passage,  except  by  viewing 
the  book  as  an  organic  whole." 


194  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

What  would  the  authors  themselves  say  upon  see- 
ing their  work  thus  mutilated  ?  There  is  even  a 
touch  of  the  farcical  in  the  effort  to  read  naturally 
and  forcibly  and  discuss  intelligently  a  fragment  like 
Antony's  speech  over  Caesar. 

3.  The  moral  effect  of  a  complete  masterpiece  is 
deeper  and  more  permanent.  Not  only  do  we  see  a 
person  acting  in  more  situations,  revealing  thus  his 
motives  and  hidden  springs  of  action,  but  the  thread 
of  his  thought  and  life  is  unravelled  in  a  steady 
sequence.  Later  acts  are  seen  as  the  result  of  for- 
mer tendencies.  The  silent  reign  of  moral  law  in 
human  actions  is  discovered.  Slowly  but  surely  con- 
duct works  out  its  own  reward  along  the  line  of  these 
deeper  principles  of  action.  Even  in  the  books  read 
in  the  early  grades  these  profound  lessons  of  life 
come  out  clear  and  strong.  Robinson  Crusoe,  The- 
seus, Siegfried,  Hiawatha,  Beauty  and  the  Beast, 
Jason,  King  Arthur,  and  Ulysses  are  not  holiday 
guests.  They  are  face  to  face  with  the  serious 
problems  of  life.  Each  person  is  seen  in  the 
present  make-up  and  tendency  of  his  character. 
When  the  eventual  wind-up  comes,  be  it  a  col- 
lapse or  an  ascension,  we  see  how  surely  and 
fatally  such  results  spring  from  such  motives  and 
tendencies.  Washington  is  found  to  be  the  first  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen;  Arnold  is  execrated; 
King  Lear  moves  on  blindly  to  the  reward  which 
his  own  folly  has  prearranged ;    Macbeth  entangles 


THE    USE    OF    MASTERPIECES    AS   WHOLES  1 95 

himself  in  a  network  of  fatal  errors;  Adam  Bede 
emerges  from  the  bitter  ordeal  of  disappointment 
with  his  manly  qualities  subdued  but  stronger.  Give 
the  novelist  or  poet  time  and  opportunity,  and  he  is 
the  true  interpreter  of  conduct  and  destiny.  He 
reveals  in  real  and  yet  ideal  characters  the  working 
out  in  life  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  moral 
action. 

4.  A  classic  work  is  often  a  picture  of  an  age,  a 
panoramic  survey  of  an  historical  epoch.  Scott's 
"  Marmion,,  is  such  a  graphic  and  dramatic  portrayal 
of  feudalism  in  Scotland.  The  castle  with  its  lord, 
attendants,  and  household,  the  steep  frowning  walls 
and  turrets,  the  moat,  drawbridge,  and  dungeon,  the 
chapel,  halls,  and  feastings,  the  knight  clad  in  armor, 
on  horseback  with  squire  and  troop,  —  these  are  the 
details  of  the  first  picture.  The  cloister  and  nuns, 
with  their  sequestered  habits  and  dress,  their  devotion 
and  masses,  supply  the  other  characteristic  picture  of 
that  age,  with  Rome  in  the  background.  The  court 
scene  and  ball  in  King  James's  palace,  before  the 
day  of  Flodden,  the  view  of  Scotland's  army  from 
the  mountain  side,  with  the  motley  hordes  from  high- 
land and  lowland  and  neighboring  isles,  and  lastly, 
the  battle  of  Flodden  itself,  where  wisdom  is  weighed 
and  valor  put  to  the  final  test,  —  all  these  are  but 
the  parts  of  a  well-adjusted  picture  of  life  in  feudal 
times  on  the  Scottish  border.  There  is  incidental 
to  the  narrative  much  vivid   description  of   Scotch 


I96  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

scenery  and  geography,  of  mountain  or  valley,  of 
frowning  castle  or  rocky  coast,  much  of  Scotch  tra- 
dition, custom,  superstition,  and  clannishness.  The 
scenes  in  cloister  and  dungeon  and  on  the  battle- 
field are  more  intensely  real  than  historical  narratives 
can  be.  While  not  strict  history,  this  is  truer  than 
history  because  it  brings  us  closer  to  the  spirit  of 
that  time.  Marmion  and  Douglas  stand  out  more 
clear  and  lifelike  than  the  men  of  history. 

Although  feudalism  underwent  constant  changes 
and  modifications  in  every  country  of  Europe,  it  is 
still  true  that "  Marmion* '  is  a  type  of  feudal  conditions, 
not  only  in  Scotland,  but  in  other  parts  of  Europe, 
and  a  full  perception  of  Scott's  poem  will  make  one 
at  home  in  any  part  of  European  history  during 
feudal  times.  As  a  historical  picture  of  life,  it  is  a 
key  to  the  spirit  and  animating  ideas  that  swayed 
the  Western  nations  during  several  centuries.  It  is 
fiction,  not  history,  in  the  usual  sense,  and  yet  it  gives 
a  more  real  and  vivid  consciousness  of  the  forces  at 
work  in  that  age  than  history  proper. 

While  the  plot  of  the  story  covers  a  narrow  field, 
only  a  few  days  of  time  and  a  small  area  of  country, 
its  roots  go  deep  into  the  whole  social,  religious,  and 
political  fabric  of  that  time.  It  touches  real  history 
at  a  critical  point  in  the  relations  between  England 
and  Scotland.  It  is  stirred  also  by  the  spirit  of  the 
Scotch  bard  and  of  minstrelsy.  It  shows  what  a 
hold  Rome  had  in  those  days,  even  in  the  highlands  of 


THE    USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS    WHOLES 


Scotland.  It  is  full  of  Scotch  scenery  and  geography . 
It  rings  with  the  clarion  of  war  and  of  battle.  It 
reveals  the  contempt  in  which  letters  were  held 
sven  by  the  most  powerful  nobles.  Oxen  are  de- 
scribed as  drawing  cannon  upon  the  field  of  Flodden, 
and  in  time  these  guns  broke  down  the  walls  of 
feudalism.  As  a  historical  picture  Marmion  is  many- 
sided,  and  the  roots  of  the  story  reach  out  through 
the  whole  fabric  of  society,  showing  how  all  the  parts 
cohere.  Such  a  piece  of  historical  literature  may 
serve  as  a  centre  around  which  to  gather  much  and 
varied  information  through  other  school  and  home 
readings.  Children  may  find  time  to  read  "Ivanhoe," 
"The  Crusades,"  "Roland,"  "Don  Quixote,"  "The 
Golden  Legend,"  "Macbeth,"  "Goetz  von  Berlich- 
ingen,"  etc.  They  will  have  a  nucleus  upon  which 
to  gather  many  related  facts  and  ideas.  It  should 
also  be  brought  into  proper  connection  with  the 
regular  lessons  in  history  and  geography.  History 
reveals  itself  to  the  poet  in  these  wonderfully  vivid 
and  lifelike  types.  In  many  of  these  historical  poems, 
as  "William  Tell,"  "Evangeline,"  "Crusoe,"  "The 
Nibelung  Song,"  "  Miles  Standish,"  the  "  Odyssey," 
"Sohrab  and  Rustum,"  some  hero  stands  in  the  centre 
of  the  narrative,  and  can  be  understood  as  a  repre- 
sentative figure  of  his  times  only  as  the  whole  series 
of  events  in  his  life  is  unrolled. 

Where    the   study  of    larger   literary  wholes   has 
been  taken  up  in  good  faith,  it  has  brought  a  rich 


I98  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

blessing  of  intelligent  enthusiasm.  Even  in  primary 
schools,  where  literary  wholes  like  "  Hiawatha/1 
"Robinson  Crusoe,"  and  the  "Golden  Touch"  are 
handled  with  a  view  to  exploit  their  whole  content, 
there  has  been  a  remarkable  enrichment  of  the  whole 
life  of  the  children.  Such  a  treatment  has  gone  so 
deep  into  the  problems  and  struggling  conditions  of 
life  delineated,  that  the  children  have  become  occu- 
pied with  the  tent-making,  boat-building,  spinning, 
and  various  constructions  incident  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  story. 

5.  If  it  is  true,  as  clearly  expressed  by  strong  think- 
ers in  the  most  various  fields  of  deeper  investigation, 
that  many  of  the  chief  literary  products  that  have 
come  down  to  us  from  former  ages  are  the  only 
means  by  which  we  can  be  brought  into  vital  touch 
and  sympathy  with  the  spirit  and  motives  then  ruling 
among  men ;  if  it  is  equally  true  that  children  will 
not  grow  up  to  the  proper  appreciation  and  interpre- 
tation of  our  present  life,  except  as  they  have  experi- 
enced, in  thought  and  interest  at  least,  the  chief 
struggles  and  motives  of  our  fathers,  —  we  may  find 
in  these  historic  and  literary  materials  the  deep  and 
living  springs  of  true  education  for  children. 

The  thought  of  the  educative  power  of  this  ances- 
tral literature  has  been  forcibly  expressed  by  many 
eminent  writers. 

Scudder,  in  "  Literature  in  School,"  says  :  — 

"There  is   the    element    of    continuity.     In    the 


THE   USE   OF   MASTERPIECES   AS   WHOLES         I99 

Roman  household  there  stood  the  cinerary  urns  which 
held  the  ashes  of  the  ancestors  of  the  family.  Do 
you  think  the  young  ever  forgot  the  unbroken  line  of 
descent  by  which  they  climbed  to  the  heroic  founders 
of  the  state?  In  the  Jewish  family  the  child  was 
taught  to  think  and  speak  of  the  God  of  Abraham, 
and  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.  In  that  great  succession 
he  heard  a  voice  which  told  him  his  nation  was  not 
of  a  day.  It  is  the  business  of  the  old  to  transmit 
to  the  young  the  great  traditions  of  the  past  of 
the  country;  to  feed  anew  the  undying  flame  of 
patriotism. 

"  It  is  this  concentration  in  poetry  and  the  more 
lofty  prose  which  gives  to  literary  art  its  precious- 
ness  as  a  symbol  of  human  endeavor,  and  renders  it 
the  one  essential  and  most  serviceable  means  for 
keeping  alive  the  smouldering  coals  of  patriotism. 
It  is  the  torch  passed  from  one  hand  to  another,  sig- 
naling hope  and  warning ;  and  the  one  place  above 
all  others  where  its  light  should  be  kindled  is  where 
the  young  meet  together,  in  those  American  temples 
which  the  people  have  built  in  every  town  and  village 
in  the  country." 

Mabie,  in  "Books  and  Culture"  (pp.  88,  89-113), 
says : — 

"  Now,  it  is  upon  this  imperishable  food  which  the 
past  has  stored  up  through  the  genius  of  great  artists 
that  later  generations  feed  and  nourish  themselves. 
It  is  through  intimate  contact  with  these  fundamental 


200  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

conceptions,  worked  out  with  such  infinite  pain  and 
patience,  that  the  individual  experience  is  broadened 
to  include  the  experience  of  the  race." 

"The  student  of  literature,  therefore,  finds  in  its 
noblest  works  not  only  the  ultimate  results  of  race 
experience  and  the  characteristic  quality  of  race 
genius,  but  the  highest  activity  of  the  greatest  minds 
in  their  happiest  and  most  expansive  moments.  In 
this  commingling  of  the  best  that  is  in  the  race  and 
the  best  that  is  in  the  individual,  lies  the  mystery  of 
that  double  revelation  which  makes  every  work  of  art 
a  disclosure,  not  only  of  the  nature  of  the  man 
behind  it,  but  of  all  men  behind  him.  In  this  com- 
mingling, too,  is  preserved  the  most  precious  deposit 
of  what  the  race  has  been  and  done,  and  of  what  the 
man  has  seen,  felt,  and  known.  In  the  nature  of 
things  no  educational  material  can  be  richer,  none  so 
fundamentally  expansive  and  illuminative." 
Emerson,  in  his  "  Essay  on  History,"  says:  — 
"  The  advancing  man  discovers  how  deep  a  prop- 
erty he  has  in  literature,  —  in  all  fable  as  well  as  in 
all  history.  He  finds  that  the  poet  was  no  odd  fellow 
who  described  strange  and  impossible  situations,  but 
that  universal  man  wrote  by  his  pen  a  confession  true 
for  one  and  true  for  all.  His  own  secret  biography 
he  finds  in  lines  wonderfully  intelligible  to  him,  dotted 
down  before  he  was  born.  One  after  another  he 
comes  up  in  his  private  adventures  with  every  fable 
of  iEsop,  of  Homer,  of  Hafiz,  of  Ariosto,  of  Chaucer, 


THE    USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS   WHOLES         201 


of  Scott,  and  verifies  them  with  his  own  head  and 
hands. 

"  The  beautiful  fables  of  the  Greeks,  being  proper 
creations  of  the  imagination  and  not  of  the  fancy,  are 
aniversal  verities.  What  a  range  of  meanings  and 
fhat  perpetual  pertinence  has  the  story  of  Prome- 
theus !  Besides  its  primary  value  as  the  first  chapter 
Df  the  history  of  Europe  (the  mythology  thinly  veil- 
ing authentic  facts,  the  invention  of  the  mechanic 
irts  and  the  migration  of  colonies),  it  gives  the  his- 
tory of  religion  with  some  closeness  to  the  faith  of 
later  ages." 

"Thus  in  all  ways  does  the  soul  concentrate  and 
reproduce  its  treasures  for  each  pupil.  He,  too,  shall 
pass  through  the  whole  cycle  of  experience.  He 
shall  collect  into  a  focus  the  rays  of  nature.  History 
no  longer  shall  be  a  dull  book.  It  shall  walk  incar- 
nate in  every  just  and  wise  man.  You  shall  not  tell 
me  by  languages  and  titles  a  catalogue  of  the  vol- 
umes you  have  read.  You  shall  make  me  feel  what 
Deriods  you  have  lived.  A  man  shall  be  the  Temple 
}f  Fame.  He  shall  walk,  as  the  poets  have  described 
that  goddess,  in  a  robe  painted  all  over  with  wonder- 
ful events  and  experiences ;  his  own  form  and  fea- 
ires  by  their  exalted  intelligence  shall  be  that 
variegated  vest.  I  shall  find  in  him  the  Foreworld ; 
in  his  childhood  the  Age  of  Gold;  the  Apples  of 
Knowledge  ;  the  Argonautic  Expedition ;  the  calling 
of  Abraham ;  the  building  of  the  Temple ;  the  Ad* 


202  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

vent  of  Christ ;  Dark  Ages ;  the  Revival  of  Letters ; 
the  Reformation ;  the  discovery  of  new  lands ;  the 
opening  of  new  sciences,  and  new  regions  in  man." 

It  is  not  intended  to  limit  the  reading  of  the 
schools  to  the  longer  classics,  such  as  "  Snow-Bound," 
"  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  and  Webster's  Bunker 
Hill  speech,  etc.  There  are  also  many  shorter  poems 
and  stories,  ballads,  and  myths,  that  are  equally  good 
and  stand  out  as  strong,  complete  expressions  of 
thought  such  as  Tennyson's  "  Brook,"  Longfellow's 
"  Village  Blacksmith,"  Whittier's  "  Barefoot  Boy," 
and  many  others.  These  shorter  pieces  should  be  in- 
terspersed among  the  longer,  and  freely  used  to  give 
greater  variety  and  zest  to  reading  exercises.  Many 
of  the  finest  literary  products  of  the  language  are 
found  in  these  shorter  poems  and  stories.  They  also 
should  be  studied  for  the  beauty  and  unity  of  thought 
contained  in  each. 

But  the  sustained pozver  gained  from  the  full  and 
rich  study  of  longer  classics  is  the  best  fruitage  of 
the  reading  work.  Every  term  of  school  should 
lead  the  children  into  the  full  appreciation  of  one 
or  more  of  these  masterly  works.  The  value  of 
such  study  is  well  expressed  by  Scudder  in  his 
"Literature  in  Schools"  (pp.  54-56):  — 

"The  real  point  of  practical  reform,  however,  is 
not  in  the  preference  of  American  authors  to  Eng- 
lish, but  in  the  careful  concentration  of  the  minds 
of  boys  and  girls  upon  standard  American  literature, 


THE    USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS    WHOLES  203 

in  opposition  to  a  dissipation  over  a  desultory  and 
mechanical  acquaintance  with  scraps  from  a  variety 
of  sources,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent.  In  my  paper 
on  '  Nursery  Classics  in  School/  I  argued  that  there 
is  a  true  economy  in  substituting  the  great  books 
of  that  portion  of  the  world's  literature  which  repre- 
sents the  childhood  of  the  world's  mind  for  the  thin, 
quickly  forgotten,  feeble  imaginations  of  insignificant 
bookmakers.  There  is  an  equally  noble  economy 
in  engaging  the  child's  mind,  when  it  is  passing  out 
of  an  immature  state  into  one  of  rational,  intelligent 
appropriation  of  literature,  upon  such  carefully  chosen 
classic  work  as  shall  invigorate  and  deepen  it.  There 
is  plenty  of  vagrancy  in  reading  ;  the  public  libraries 
and  cheap  papers  are  abundantly  able  to  satisfy  the 
truant:  but  it  ought  to  be  recognized  once  for  all 
that  the  schools  are  to  train  the  mind  into  appre- 
ciation of  literature,  not  to  amuse  it  with  idle  diver- 
sion ;  to  this  end,  the  simplest  and  most  direct  method 
is  to  place  before  boys  and  girls  for  their  regular 
task  in  reading,  not  scraps  from  this  and  that  author, 
duly  paragraphed  and  numbered,  but  a  wisely  selected 
series  of  works  by  men  whom  their  country  honors, 
and  who  have  made  their  country  worth  living  in. 
"  The  continuous  reading  of  a  classic  is  in  itself  a 
liberal  education ;  the  fragmentary  reading  of  common- 
place lessons  in  minor  morals,  such  as  make  up  much 
of  our  reading-books,  is  a  pitiful  waste  of  growing 
mental  powers.     Even  were  our  reading-books  com- 


204  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

posed  of  choice  selections  from  the  highest  literature, 
they  would  still  miss  the  very  great  advantage  which 
follows  upon  the  steady  growth  of  acquaintance 
with  a  sustained  piece  of  literary  art.  I  do  not 
insist,  of  course,  that  '  Evangeline '  should  be  read  at 
one  session  of  the  school,  though  it  would  be  exceed- 
ingly helpful  in  training  the  powers  of  the  mind  if, 
after  this  poem  had  been  read  day  by  day  for  a  few 
weeks,  it  were  to  be  taken  up  first  in  its  separate 
thirds,  and  then  in  an  entire  reading.  What  I  claim 
is  that  the  boy  or  girl  who  has  read  *  Evangeline " 
through  steadily  has  acquired  a  certain  power  in 
appropriating  literature  which  is  not  to  be  had  by 
reading  a  collection  of  minor  poems,  —  the  power 
of  long-sustained  attention  and  interest." 

The  study  of  literary  wholes,  whether  longer  or 
shorter,  in  the  common  school  is  based  upon  the 
notion  that  the  full,  rich  thought  of  the  author  is 
the  absorbing  purpose  of  our  effort.  Literature  is 
a  reservoir  of  mental  refinement  and  riches,  for  the 
gaining  of  which  we  can  afford  to  sacrifice  many 
things  and  make  many  even  good  things  subordi- 
nate. The  words  of  the  wise  man  in  recommending 
wisdom  to  the  sons  of  men  are  not  inappropriate : 
"  Hear ;  for  I  will  speak  of  excellent  things  and  the 
opening  of  my  lips  shall  be  right  things,  and  wicked- 
ness is  an  abomination  to  my  lips.  Receive  my 
instruction  and  not  silver;  and  knowledge  rather 
than  choice  gold.     For  wisdom  is  better  than  rubies ; 


THE    USE   OF    MASTERPIECES    AS    WHOLES         205 

and  all  the  things  that  may  be  desired  are  not  to  be 
compared  to  it." 

To  get  at  the  wisdom  of  the  best  thinkers  of  the 
world,  so  far  as  it  is  accessible  to  children,  is  the 
straightforward  aim  of  such  study.  The  teachers  of 
reading,  if  they  but  realized  it,  are  the  guardians 
of  a  temple  more  beautiful  than  the  Parthenon  in 
the  days  of  Pericles,  more  impressive  than  the  sacred 
towers  and  porticos  at  Jerusalem ;  they  are  the  cus- 
todians of  a  treasure  far  more  rich  and  lasting  than 
that  in  any  palace  of  a  king.  Such  comparisons, 
indeed,  are  almost  belittling  to  the  dignity  of  our 
subject.  How  noble  and  vast  is  the  temple  of 
literature !  What  single  mind  can  grasp  its  propor- 
tions or  the  boundless  beauty  of  its  decorations? 
Moreover,  it  is  a  living  temple,  ever  springing  up 
afresh,  in  all  its  pristine  strength  and  beauty,  where- 
ever  minds  are  found  reverent,  studious,  and  thought- 
ful. 

The  old  proverb  suggests  that  we  "  beware  of 
the  man  of  one  book,"  and  is  significant  of  a  strong 
practical  truth.  Our  modern  life  demands  a  some- 
what broader  basis  of  operations  than  one  book  can 
furnish.  But  a  few  of  the  great  books,  well  mastered, 
give  the  main  elements  of  strength. 

Mabie  has  a  short  chapter  on  the  "  Books  of  Life  " 
which  "  include  the  original,  creative,  first-hand  books 
in  all  literatures,  and  constitute  in  the  last  analysis 
a  comparatively  small  group,  with  which  any  student 


206  SPECIAL    METHOD   IN    READING 

can  thoroughly  familiarize  himself.  The  literary- 
impulse  of  the  race  has  expressed  itself  in  a  great 
variety  of  works  of  varying  charm  and  power,  but 
the  books  which  are  fountain-heads  of  vitality,  ideas, 
and  beauty  are  few  in  number." 

The  effect  upon  the  teacher  of  the  study  of  a  few 
of  the  "  Books  of  Life"  is  deserving  of  emphasis. 
First,  by  limiting  the  choice  to  a  few  things,  teachers 
are  able,  without  burdening  themselves,  to  penetrate 
into  the  deeper  thought  and  meaning  of  standard 
works  which  are  good  specimens  and  criteria  of  all 
superior  literature.  Teachers  are  enabled  thus  to 
become,  in  a  limited  way,  real  students  of  literature. 
It  Has  been  observed,  not  seldom,  that  teachers  of 
usual  capacity,  when  turned  into  a  single  rich  field 
like  that  of  "  Hiawatha  "  or  the  "  Merchant  of  Venice  " 
or  "  The  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome  "  or  the  "  Lady  of  the 
Lake,"  receive  an  awakening  which  means  much  for 
their  general  culture  and  teaching  power.  The  scat- 
tering of  the  attention  over  miscellaneous  selections 
and  fragments  can  hardly  produce  this  awakening. 

Certain  difficulties  are  incident  to  the  reading  of 
longer  works  as  wholes  which  it  is  well  to  recognize. 

i.  There  is  no  such  nice  grading  of  verbal  and 
language  difficulties  as  has  been  wrought  out  in 
some  of  the  standard  readers.  On  this  point 
Scudder  says  (p.  41  of  "Literature  in  Schools"):  — 

"  The  drawback  to  the  use  of  these  nursery  clas- 
sics in  the  schoolroom  undoubtedly  has  been  in  the 


THE   USE    OF    MASTERPIECES   AS    WHOLES         207 

absence  of  versions  which  are  intelligible  to  children 
if  the  proper  age,  reading  by  themselves.  The 
akers  of  the  graded  reading-books  have  expended 
.11  their  ingenuity  in  grading  the  ascent.  They  have 
een  so  concerned  about  the  gradual  enlargement  of 
eir  vocabularies  that  they  have  paid  slight  atten- 
on  to  the  ideas  which  the  words  were  intended  to 
onvey.  But  just  this  gradation  may  be  secured 
through  the  use  of  these  stories,  and  it  only  needs 
that  they  should  be  written  out  in  a  form  as  simple, 
especially  as  regards  the  order  of  words,  as  that 
which  obtains  in  the  reading-books  of  equivalent 
grade." 

But  in  the  longer  classics  for  more  advanced 
grades  there  can  be  no  such  adaptation,  and  the 
author's  form  should  be  retained.  The  authors  of 
"Rip  Van  Winkle"  or  "Snow-Bound"  or  "  Hora- 
tius  at  the  Bridge  "  were  not  trying  to  phrase  their 
thought  to  meet  the  needs  of  children,  but  wrote  as 
the  spirit  moved  them.  The  greater  vigor  and  inten- 
sity of  the  author's  style  will  make  up,  however,  in 
large  part,  for  this  defect  in  easy  grading.  Children 
are  not  so  much  afraid  of  big  or  new  words,  if  there 
is  attractiveness  and  power  of  thought.  The  larger 
richness  and  variety  of  language  in  a  fruitful  author 
is  a  positive  advantage  as  compared  with  the  leanness 
and  dulness  of  many  a  smoothly  graded  reading  lesson. 
2.  It  is  claimed  that  there  is,  in  some  masterpieces, 
like  "  Evangeline "  or  one  of  Webster's  speeches,  a 


208  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

monotony  and  tiresome  sameness  which  grows  bur- 
densome to  pupils  ere  the  conclusion  is  reached.  At 
least  there  is  much  less  variety  in  style  and  thought 
than  in  an  equal  number  of  pages  in  the  usual  reader. 

In  some  cases  there  is  good  ground  for  this  criti- 
cism. It  may  be  a  defect  in  the  writer's  style,  or  in 
not  finding  a  suitable  selection  for  the  class.  In 
some  cases  it  is  due  to  lack  of  power  in  the  teacher 
to  bring  the  children  properly  into  close  contact  with 
the  author's  thought. 

But  dulness  and  apathy  are  often  found  in  reading 
short  selections  as  well  as  in  longer  ones.  Generally 
speaking,  longer  pieces  are  apt  to  kindle  a  deeper 
and  stronger  interest.  Many  of  the  longer  selections 
have  also  great  variety  of  rhetorical  style.  Dickens's 
" Christmas  Carol"  is  employed  in  one  of  the  drill 
books  in  reading  to  illustrate  all  phases  of  voice  and 
tone. 

3.  It  is  not  an  unusual  experience  to  find  that  a 
longer  story  or  poem  seems  too  hard  for  a  class,  and 
it  may  be  impossible  to  interest  them  because  of 
verbal  or  thought  difficulties.  But  the  teacher  should 
not  give  up  the  struggle  at  once.  Often,  in  a  new 
author,  difficulties  that  seem  at  first  insurmountable 
give  way  before  vigorous  effort,  and  a  lively  interest 
is  awakened.  This  has  been  noticed  in  Macaulay's 
"  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  in  Irving's  "  Rip  Van 
Winkle,"  in  Scott's  "Lady  of  the  Lake,"  also  in 
Webster's  "Speech  in  reply  to  Hayne."     The  teacher 


THE    USE    OF   MASTERPIECES    AS    WHOLES         209 

should  not  depend  wholly  upon  the  author's  making 
himself  intelligible  and  interesting  to  the  children. 
His  own  enthusiasm,  clear  grasp  of  thought,  suggest- 
ive assignment  of  lesson,  and  skill  in  comment  and 
question  should  awaken  insight  and  attention.  It  is 
advisable  at  times  to  pass  by  specially  difficult  pas- 
sages, or  leave  them  for  later  special  study. 

4.  In  some  schools  it  is  not  possible  to  secure 
books  containing  the  complete  classics.  But  even 
the  regular  readers  often  contain  complete  poems 
and  stories,  and  several  of  the  large  companies  are 
publishing  many  of  the  complete  masterpieces  in 
good  print  and  binding,  no  more  expensive  than 
the  regular  readers. 

5.  The  greatest  difficulty,  after  all,  is  the  lack  of 
experience  of  many  teachers  with  the  longer  classics. 
In  many  cases  their  inability  to  select  what  would 
suit  their  classes  is  a  hindrance.  But  the  experience 
of  many  teachers  with  these  materials  is  rapidly  set- 
tling the  question  as  to  the  place  and  importance  of 
the  leading  masterpieces  as  well  as  of  many  shorter 
selections. 


CHAPTER   XI 

Literary  Materials  for  the  Five  Upper  Grades 

There  is  great  abundance  and  variety  of  choice 
reading  matter  suitable  for  the  grades  from  the  fourth 
to  the  eighth  inclusive.  The  best  sets  of  reading- 
books  have  drawn  from  this  rich  material,  but  no 
series  of  readers  can  compass  adequately  the  field. 
Some  of  the  longer  classical  stories  and  poems  have 
been  incorporated  into  readers,  but  a  single  set  of 
readers  cannot  be  made  large  enough  to  contain  a 
quarter  of  the  valuable  reading  matter  which  should  be 
f  urnishedin  these  grades.  The  large  publishing  houses 
now  supply,  at  moderate  expense,  in  small  and  con- 
venient book  form,  a  great  variety  of  the  very  best 
complete  masterpieces.  In  order  to  show  more  clearly 
the  richness  and  variety  of  this  material,  we  will  dis- 
cuss briefly  the  principal  kinds  of  reading  matter  which 
are  distributed  through  these  five  grades.  We  assume 
that  during  the  first  three  years  of  school  life  chil- 
dren have  learned  how  to  read,  having  mastered  the 
forms  and  symbols  of  printed  language.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  grade,  therefore,  they  are 
prepared  to  read  some  of  those  choice  literary  prod- 
ucts which  constitute  a  part  of    the  permanent  lit- 


LITERARY   MATERIALS 


211 


erature  of  the  world.  After  having  collected  and 
arranged  these  products,  we  find  that  they  fall  into 
several  distinctly  marked  classes. 

i.    The  Myths. 

These  include  such  stories  as  Hawthorne's  "Won- 
der Book  "  and  "  Tanglewood  Tales,"  Peabody's  "  Old 
Greek  Folk  Stories,"  Kingsley's  "  Greek  Heroes," 
'The  Story  of  Ulysses,"  Bryant's  translation  of 
the  "  Iliad  "  and  "  Odyssey,"  Pope's  "  Homer,"  and 
many  other  prose  and  poetic  renderings  of  the  Greek 
myths. 

Another  group  of  myths  include  Mabie's  "Norse 
Stories,"  "  Heroes  of  Asgard,  "  Siegfried,"  "  Myths 
of  Northern  Lands,"  Skinner's  "  Readings  in  Folk 
Lore,"  and  many  forms  of  the  Norse  myths.  The 
story  of  "Hiawatha"  belongs  also  to  this  group, 
while  some  of  the  earlier  English  and  Roman  myths 
belong  to  the  same  class. 

The  choicest  of  these  mythical  stories  are  dis- 
tributed as  reading  matter  through  the  fourth  and 
fifth  grades.  They  constitute  a  large  share  of  the 
most  famous  literature  of  the  great  civilized  nations. 
It  is  worth  while  to  name  over  the  virtues  of  these 
stories  and  poems. 

They  have  sprung  directly  out  of  the  people's 
life,  they  are  race  products,  worked  over  from  age 
to  age  by  poetic  spirits,  and  finally  gathered  into 
enduring  form  by  a  Homer,  Virgil,  or  Spenser. 
The  best  of  our  later  poets  and  prose  masters  have 


212  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

.employed  their  finest  skill  in  rendering  them  into 
simple  and  poetic  English,  as  Bryant,  Kingsley, 
Longfellow,  Pope,  Hawthorne,  Palmer,  Tennyson, 
Church,  and  many  more. 

They  are  the  best  descriptions  we  have  of  the 
customs,  ideas,  and  dress,  the  homes,  habits,  and  mo- 
tives, of  the  ancestral  races.  Many  other  sources, 
as  temples,  ruins,  tombs,  coins,  etc.,  help  to  explain 
this  early  history;  but  this  literature  calls  it  again 
into  life  and  puts  meaning  into  all  other  sources  of 
knowledge. 

The  influence  which  this  early  literature  has  had 
upon  later  historical  growth  of  the  great  races  is 
overwhelming,  and  is  plain  to  the  eyes  of  even  un- 
scholarly  persons.  The  root  from  which  the  marvel- 
lous tree  of  Greek  civilization  grew  is  seen  in  Homer's 
poems. 

In  these  myths  we  find  those  commanding  char- 
acters which  typify  the  strength  and  virtues  of  the 
race,  as  Achilles,  Ulysses,  Siegfried,  Penelope,  Thor, 
Apollo,  Theseus,  Hiawatha,  Orpheus,  Diana,  Vulcan, 
Prometheus,  and  the  Muses. 

A  close  acquaintance  with  these  creative  ideas  of 
the  early  world  is  necessary  to  an  understanding 
of  all  subsequent  life  and  literature.  And  it  is  not 
merely  the  names  of  Greek  divinities  and  definitions 
of  their  character  and  qualities  which  put  meaning 
into  the  numberless  allusions  of  modern  writers.  One 
reason  why  many  modern  thinkers  smile  at  the  trite- 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  213 

ness  and  childishness  of  Greek  fable  is,  that  they 
have  not  caught  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  Greek 
story.  The  great  masters  of  thought,  like  Goethe, 
Shakespeare,  Emerson,  Tennyson,  and  Bryant,  have 
seen  deeper. 

It  is,  moreover,  in  childhood,  during  the  early  school 
years  especially,  that  we  may  best  appreciate  and 
enjoy  these  poetic  creations  of  an  early  world.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  expected  that  people  whose  youth  has 
been  clamped  into  the  mould  of  commonplace  and 
sensuous  facts,  and  whose  later  years  have  been 
crusted  over  with  modern  materialism  and  commer- 
cialism, should  listen  with  any  patience  to  Orpheus 
and  the  Muses,  or  even  to  the  wood  notes  of  Pan. 

We  hardly  need  to  dwell  upon  the  idea  that  the 
old  heroic  myths  are  the  delight  of  boys  and  girls, 
and  that  this  sympathy  for  the  myth  is  the  founda- 
tion of  its  educative  power.  Nor  is  it  the  purpose  of 
the  school  to  warp  the  minds  of  children  into  this  one 
channel  of  growth.  The  historical  and  scientific 
studies  run  parallel  with  the  myth,  and  give  strength 
for  other  realities. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  music,  the  drama,  and 
the  fine  arts  spring  from  these  old  myths  as  from 
their  chief  source.  They  furnish  motive  to  many  of 
the  greatest  works  of  dramatist,  composer,  painter, 
and  sculptor,  in  all  the  ages  since.  -^Eschylus  and 
the  Greek  dramatists,  Goethe  and  Wagner,  Fenelon 
and  Shakespeare,  drew  abundantly  from  these  sources. 


214  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

A  few  of  the  striking  characters  of  this  great  age 
of  heroic  myths  should  be  treated  with  such  fulness 
as  to  stand  out  clearly  to  the  children  and  appeal  to 
the  heart  as  well  as  to  the  head.  Ulysses  and  Sieg- 
fried stand  in  the  centre  of  two  of  the  chief  stories, 
and  exemplify  great  qualities  of  character,  strength, 
wisdom,  and  nobleness  of  mind. 

In  the  third  grade  the  children  have  had  an  oral 
introduction  to  some  of  the  old  stories,  and  have  had 
a  spirited  entrance  to  Mythland.  This  oral  treat- 
ment of  the  stories  is  a  fitting  and  necessary  prelude 
to  the  reading  work  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades. 
It  is  more  fully  discussed,  together  with  the  art  of 
the  story-teller,  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  this 
book. 

Closely  related  to  the  myths,  and  kindred  in  spirit, 
are  such  choice  reading  materials  as  "The  Arabian 
Nights,"  "King  of  the  Golden  River,"  Stockton's 
"Fanciful  Tales,"  "The  Pied  Piper,"  and  a  number 
of  shorter  poems  and  stories  found  in  the  collections 
recommended  for  fourth  and  fifth  grades.  Some  of 
Hawthorne's  and  Irving's  stories  belong  also  to  this 
group. 

2.    Ballads  and  Traditional  Stories. 

A  somewhat  distinct  group  of  the  best  reading  for 
fourth  and  fifth  grades  is  found  in  the  historical 
ballads  and  national  legends  from  the  early  history 
of  England,  Germany,  Italy,  and  France.  They  in- 
clude such  selections  as  "Sir  Patrick  Spens,"  "The 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  21 5 

Ballads  of  Robin  Hood,"  "  Horatius,"  "  Bannock- 
burn,"  "The  Heart  of  the  Bruce,"  "The  Story  of 
Regulus,"  of  "  Cincinnatus,"  "Alfred  the  Harper," 
and  many  more.  In  the  list  of  books  recommended 
for  children's  reading  are  several  ballad  books, 
Macaulay's  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  "  The  Book  of 
Golden  Deeds,"  "Tales  from  English  History,"  and 
several  others,  with  great  variety  of  poem  and  story. 
Many  of  these  selections  are  short  and  spirited  and 
well  suited  to  awaken  the  strongest  enthusiasm  of 
children.  They  are  sometimes  in  dialogue  form, 
both  in  prose  and  verse,  have  strong  dramatic 
action,  and  are  thus  helpful  in  variety  and  force  of 
expression.  There  is  also  much  early  history  and 
national  spirit  involved.  The  old  historical  ballads 
and  traditions  have  great  educative  value.  They  are 
simple,  crude,  and  powerful,  and  awaken  the  spirit  to 
receive  the  message  of  heroism.  In  her  introduction 
to  the  "  Ballad  Book,"  Katharine  Lee  Bates  says, 
"  For  these  primitive  folk-songs,  which  have  done 
so  much  to  educate  the  poetic  sense  in  the  fine 
peasantry  of  Scotland  —  that  peasantry  which  has 
produced  an  Ayrshire  Ploughman  and  an  Ettrick 
Shepherd  —  are  assuredly, 

" l  Thanks  to  the  human  heart  by  which  it  lives,' 

among  the  best  educators  that  can  be  brought  into 
our  schoolrooms." 

"  The  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  the  "  Ballads,"  and 


2l6  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

the  "Tales  from  English  History "  belong  to  the 
heroic  series.  Though  far  separated  in  time  and 
place,  they  breathe  the  same  spirit  of  personal  energy, 
self-sacrifice,  and  love  of  country.  They  reveal 
manly  resistance  to  cruelty  and  tyranny.  We  may 
begin  this  series  with  a  term's  work  upon  Macaulay's 
"  Lays  "  and  a  few  other  choice  stories  in  prose  and 
verse.  Thereafter  we  may  insert  other  ballads, 
where  needed,  in  connection  with  history,  and  in 
amplification  of  longer  stories  or  masterpieces  like 
Scott's  "  Tales  of  a  Grandfather,"  and  "  Marmion." 
In  the  fifth  grade,  children  are  of  an  age  when  these 
stories  of  heroism  in  olden  days  strike  a  responsive 
chord.  They  delight  in  such  tales,  memorize  them, 
and  enter  into  the  full  energy  of  their  spirited  re- 
production. The  main  purpose  at  first  is  to  appre- 
ciate their  thought  as  an  expression  of  history, 
tradition,  and  national  life.  A  complete  and  absorb- 
ing study  of  a  single  series  of  these  ballads,  as  of 
Macaulay's,  supplies  also  an  excellent  standard  of 
comparison  for  other  more  or  less  similar  episodes 
in  the  history  of  Switzerland,  Greece,  England,  and 
America. 

These  historical  legends  merge  almost  imper- 
ceptibly into  the  historical  tales  of  early  English, 
Roman,  and  French  or  German  history.  The  patri- 
archal stories  of  the  Old  Testament  furnish  the 
finest  of  early  history  stories  and  should  be  included 
in  these  materials.     "The  Old  Stories  of  the  East," 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  21  *J 

id  "  Old  Testament  Stories  in  Scripture  Language  " 
ire  among  the  best. 

3.  Stories  of  Chivalry. 

Tales  of  chivalry,  beginning  with  "  Arthur  and  his 
Round  Table  Knights,"  "Roland  and  Oliver,"  and 
other  mediaeval  tales,  have  a  great  attraction  for  poets 
and  children.  Such  books  are  included  in  our  lists  as 
"  The  Court  of  King  Arthur,"  the  "  Story  of  Roland," 
"Tales  of  Chivalry,"  "The  Boys,  King  Arthur,"  the 
"  Age  of  Chivalry,"  and  "  The  Coming  of  Arthur  "  and 
"  Passing  of  Arthur."  There  are  also  many  shorter 
poems  touching  this  spirit  of  chivalry  in  the  Ballad 
literature.  The  character  and  spirit  of  King  Arthur 
as  revealed  in  the  matchless  music  of  Tennyson 
should  find  its  way  to  the  hearts  of  children  before 
they  leave  the  school.     Like  Sir  Galahad,  he  could 

say, 

"My  strength  is  as  the  strength  often 
Because  my  heart  is  pure." 

4.  Historical  Stories  and  Poems. 

In  the  fifth  and  sixth  grades  children  should  begin 
to  read  some  of  the  best  biographical  and  historical 
stories  of  America  and  of  European  countries.  Of 
these  we  have  excellent  materials  from  many  lands 
and  periods  of  time,  such  as  Higginson's  "  American 
Explorers,"  Morris's  "  Historical  Tales  "  (both  Ameri- 
can and  English),  "  Stories  of  American  Life  and 
Adventure,"  "  Stories  of  Our  Country,"  "  Pioneer  His- 
tory Stories,"  "Ten  Boys  on  the  Road  from  Long 


218  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Ago/'  "The  Story  of  the  English/'  "Stories  from 
Herodotus,"  "Pilgrims  and  Puritans/'  Hawthorne's 
"  Biographical  Stories,"  "  Stories  from  American 
Life,"  and  others. 

In  the  oral  history  lessons  given  on  alternate  days 
in  fourth  grade  (see  special  method  in  history)  we 
have  made  a  spirited  entrance  to  American  history 
through  the  pioneer  stories  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
These  should  precede  and  pave  the  way  for  classic 
readings  in  American  history.  In  the  fifth  grade, 
the  stories  of  Columbus  and  of  the  chief  navigators, 
also  the  narratives  of  the  Atlantic  coast  pioneers,  are 
told.  The  regular  history  work  of  the  sixth  grade 
should  be  a  study  of  the  growth  of  the  leading 
colonies  during  the  colonial  period  and  the  French 
and  Indian  Wars. 

In  the  fifth  grade  we  may  begin  to  read  some  of 
the  hero  narratives  of  our  own  pioneer  epoch  as 
rendered  by  the  best  writers ;  for  instance,  Higgin- 
son's  "  American  Explorers,"  "  Pilgrims  and  Puri- 
tans," "  Stories  of  Our  Country,"  and  "  Grandfather's 
Chair."  They  are  lifelike  and  spirited,  and  intro- 
duce us  to  the  realism  of  our  early  history  in  its 
rugged  exposure  and  trials,  while  they  bring  out  those 
stern  but  high  ideals  of  life  which  the  Puritan  and 
the  Cavalier,  the  navigator,  the  pioneer  hunter,  and 
explorer  illustrate.  Higginson's  collection  of  letters 
and  reports  of  the  early  explorers,  with  their  quaint 
language  and  eye-witness  descriptions,  is  strikingly 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  219 

vivid  in  its  portraiture  of  early  scenes  upon  our 
shores.  Hawthorne,  in  "Grandfather's  Chair,"  has 
moulded  the  hardy  biography  of  New  England  leaders 
into  literary  form. 

5.   Great  Biographies. 

In  addition  to  the  shorter  biographical  stories  just 
mentioned,  as  children  advance  into  the  sixth,  seventh, 
and  eighth  grades,  they  should  make  a  close  acquain- 
tance with  a  few  of  the  great  biographies.  There  is 
an  abundance  of  excellent  American  biographies,  but 
we  should  limit  ourselves  to  those  most  important 
and  best  suited  to  influence  the  character  of  young 
people.  It  is  necessary  also  to  use  those  which  have 
been  written  in  a  style  easily  comprehended  by  the 
children.  Some  of  the  best  are  as  follows  :  Scudder's 
"Life  of  Washington,"  Franklin's  "Autobiography," 
Hosmer's  "  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,"  and  the  lives 
of  John  Quincy  Adams,  Daniel  Webster,  and  Lin- 
coln in  the  "Statesman  Series."  There  are  two 
fairly  good  books  of  Lincoln's  early  life  for  children. 
There  are  also  many  shorter  biographies  included 
in  the  books  recommended  for  regular  or  collateral 
reading. 

In  style  and  content  the  story  of  Franklin  is 
one  of  the  best  for  children.  The  "Autobiog- 
raphy "  of  Franklin  has  many  graphic  touches 
from  American  life.  His  intense  practical  per- 
sonality, his  many-sidedness  and  public  spirit,  make 
up   a  character  that  will    long    instruct    and   open 


220  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

out  in  many  directions  the  minds  of  the  young. 
His  clear  sense  and  wisdom  in  small  affairs  as  in 
great,  and  the  pleasing  style  of  his  narrative,  are 
sufficiently  characteristic  to  have  a  strong  personal 
impression.  It  will  hardly  be  necessary  to  take  the 
whole  of  the  "  Autobiography/ '  but  the  more  attrac- 
tive parts,  leaving  the  rest  to  the  private  reading  of 
children.  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  "  intensifies  the 
notion  of  Franklin's  practical  and  everyday  wisdom, 
and  at  the  same  time  introduces  the  children  to  a 
form  of  literature  that,  in  colonial  days,  under 
Franklin's  patronage,  had  a  wide  acceptance  and 
lasting  influence  in  America. 

Plutarch's  "  Lives  "  furnish  a  series  of  great  bi- 
ographies which  grammar  school  children  should 
become  well  acquainted  with.  The  lives  of  Ameri- 
can writers  and  poets  should  be  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  children  in  conjunction  with  their  productions. 
"The  Children's  Stories  of  American  Literature" 
and  the  introductory  chapters  of  many  of  the  master- 
pieces furnish  this  interesting  and  stimulating 
material.  It  should  not  be  neglected  by  pupils  and 
teachers.  For  older  pupils  and  for  teachers  several 
of  Macaulay's  "  Essays  "  are  valuable,  and  the  style 
is  strikingly  interesting.  For  example,  the  essays  on 
Samuel  Johnson,  Lord  Chatham,  Milton,  Addison, 
and  Frederick  the  Great.  Motley's  "  Essay  on  Peter 
the  Great"  and  Carlyle's  "Essay  on  Burns"  are  of 
similar  interest  and  value.      "  The  Schonberg  Cotta 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  221 

Family "  is  valuable  in  the  upper  grammar  grades. 
Most  of  this  kind  of  reading  must  be  outside  refer- 
ence work  if  it  is  done  at  all.  Teachers  should,  first 
of  all,  enrich  their  own  experience  by  these  read- 
ings, occasionally  bring  a  book  to  the  class  from 
which  selections  may  be  read,  and,  secondly,  encour- 
age the  more  enthusiastic  and  capable  children  to 
this  wider  field  of  reading. 

6.  Historical  Poems  and  Pictures  of  American 
Life. 

Some  of  the  best  American  poems  and  prose 
masterpieces  are  fine  descriptions  of  American  life 
and  manners,  in  different  parts  of  the  country  and 
at  various  times.  Such  are:  "Courtship  of  Miles 
Standish,"  "Tales  of  the  White  Hills,,,  "Snow- 
Bound,"  "Rip  Van  Winkle,"  and  "Sleepy  Hollow." 
"The  Gentle  Boy,"  "Mabel  Martin,"  "Giles  Corey," 
"Evangeline,"  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  and  some  of 
the  great  biographies,  like  those  of  Samuel  Adams, 
Franklin,  Washington,  and  Lincoln,  are  also  fine 
descriptions  of  home  life  in  America.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  some  of  the  masterpieces  of  English 
and  European  literature,  for  example,  "Ivanhoe," 
"Roger  de  Coverley,"  "The  Christmas  Carol," 
"Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  "William  Tell,"  "Silas  Mar- 
ner,"  "  The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night,"  and  "  Schon- 
berg  Cotta  Family." 

The  culture  value  of  these  pictures  of  home  and 
domestic  life  for  young  people  is  surpassingly  great. 


222  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Gradually  their  views  are  broadened,  and  they  may 
be  imbued  with  those  social,  home-bred  qualities  and 
virtues  so  fundamental  in  human  life. 

Irving' s  stories  and  Longfellow's  "  Miles  Stan- 
dish  "  give  a  still  more  pronounced  and  pleasing 
literary  cast  to  two  of  the  characteristic  forms  of 
life  in  our  colonial  history,  the  Puritan  and  the 
Dutch  Patroon.  If  the  children  have  reached  this 
point,  where  they  can  read  and  enjoy  the  "Sketch- 
Book,"  it  will  be  worth  much  as  a  description  of  life 
along  the  Hudson,  and  will  develop  taste  and  appre- 
ciation for  literary  excellence.  Even  the  fanciful 
and  ridiculous  elements  conduce  to  mental  health 
and  soundness,  by  showing  up  in  pleasing  satire  the 
weaknesses  and  foibles  of  well-meaning  people. 

" Snow-Bound,"  "Songs  of  Labor/'  and  "Among 
the  Hills,"  while  not  historical  in  the  usual  sense, 
are  still  plainly  American,  and  may  well  be  asso- 
ciated with  other  poetic  delineations  of  American 
life.  "  Snow-Bound "  is  a  picture  of  New  England 
life,  with  its  pleasing  and  deep-rooted  memories.  Its 
family  spirit  and  idealization  of  common  objects  and 
joys  make  it  a  classic  which  reaches  the  hearts  of 
boys  and  girls.  "Among  the  Hills"  is  also  a  pic- 
ture of  home  life  in  New  England  mountains,  a  con- 
trast of  the  mean  and  low  in  home  environment  to 
the  beauty  of  thrift  and  taste  and  unselfish  home 
joys.  The  "Songs  of  Labor"  are  descriptive  of  the 
toils  and  spirit  of  our  varied  employments  in  New 


LITERARY   MATERIALS 


223 


England  and  of  that  larger  New  England  which  the 
migrating  Yankees  have  established  between  the 
oceans. 

11  Evangeline "  is  another  literary  pearl  that  en- 
shrines in  sad  and  rhythmic  measures  a  story  of 
colonial  days,  and  teaches  several  great  lessons,  as 
of  the  harshness  and  injustice  of  war,  of  fair-minded- 
ness and  sympathy  for  those  of  alien  speech  and 
country,  of  patience  and  gentleness  and  loyalty  to 
high  ideals  in  a  cherished  character  familiar  to  all. 

7.  The  Poetry  of  Nature  in  the  Masterpieces  of 
Literature. 

Both  in  poetic  and  in  prose  form  there  is  great 
variety  and  depth  of  nature  worship  in  good  litera- 
ture. There  are  few,  if  any,  of  the  great  poets  who 
have  not  been  enthusiastic  and  sympathetic  observers 
of  nature, — nature  lovers,  we  may  call  them.  We 
can  hardly  mention  the  names  of  Emerson,  Bryant, 
and  Wordsworth,  without  thinking  of  their  loving 
companionship  with  nature,  their  flight  to  the  woods 
and  fields.  But  the  same  is  true  of  Lowell,  Whittier, 
Hawthorne,  Whitman,  and  all  the  rest.  When  we 
add  to  these,  those  companions  of  nature,  such  as 
Thoreau,  Leander  Keyser,  Olive  Thorn  Miller,  Bur- 
roughs, Warner,  and  others  of  like  spirit,  we  may 
be  surprised  at  the  number  of  our  leading  writers 
who  have  found  their  chief  delight  in  dwelling  close 
to  the  heart  of  nature. 

An   examination  of  the  books   recommended  for 


224  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

children's  study  and  delight  will  reveal  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  most  graceful,  inspiriting  products  of 
human  thought,  which  are  nature  poems,  nature 
hymns,  odes  to  skylark,  the  dandelion,  the  mountain 
daisy,  communings  with  the  myriad  moods  and 
forms  of  the  natural  world.  Such  books  as  "Nature 
Pictures  by  American  Poets,' '  "  Golden  Treasury  of 
Songs  and  Lyrics,"  "Poetry  of  the  Seasons,"  the 
"  Open  Sesame"  books,  and  others,  show  an  infinite 
variety  of  poetic  inspiration  from  nature.  Adding 
to  these  Burroughs's  "  Birds  and  Bees,"  "  Wake 
Robin,"  "  Squirrels  and  other  Fur-bearers " ;  Tho- 
reau's  "  Succession  of  Forest  Trees  "  ;  Higginson's 
"  Outdoor  Papers " ;  Keyser's  "  News  from  the 
Birds,"  "In  Bird  Land,"  and  "Birddom";  Torrey's 
"Footpath  Way,"  and  "Birds  in  the  Bush";  Long's 
"Wilderness  Ways,"  and  "Ways  of  Wood  Folk"; 
the  "Plant  World"  of  Vincent,  the  "Natural  His- 
tory of  Selborne,"  and  others  of  like  quality,  —  and 
we  have  an  abundance  of  the  most  friendly  and  en- 
ticing invitations  to  nature  study.  These  materials 
are  suited,  by  proper  arrangement,  to  all  the  grades 
from  the  fourth  up.  Under  good  teachers  such 
books  can  do  no  other  than  awaken  and  encourage 
the  happiest  kind  of  observation  and  sympathy  for 
nature.  It  is  the  kind  of  appreciation  of  birds  and 
trees,  insects  and  clouds,  which  at  once  trains  to 
close  and  discriminating  perception,  and  to  the  culti- 
vation of  aesthetic  sense  in  color,  form,  and  sound. 


LITERARY   MATERIALS  225 

The  love  of  nature  cannot  be  better  instilled  than 
by  following  these  poets. 

While  the  study  of  literature  as  it  images  nature 
cannot  take  the  place  of  pure  science,  it  is  the  most 
powerful  ally  that  the  scientist  can  call  in.  The 
poets  can  do  as  much  to  idealize  science  study,  to 
wake  the  dull  eye,  and  quicken  the  languid  interest 
in  nature,  as  scientists  themselves.  Away,  then, 
with  this  presumed  antagonism  between  literature 
and  science !  Neither  is  complete  without  the  other. 
Neither  can  stand  on  its  own  feet.  But  together,  in 
mutual  support,  they  cannot  be  tripped  up.  The 
facts,  the  laws,  the  utilities,  adaptations,  and  wonders 
in  nature  are  not  so  marvellous  but  the  poet's  eye 
will  pierce  beneath  and  above  them,  will  give  them 
a  deeper  interpretation,  and  clothe  them  in  a  gar- 
ment of  beauty  and  praise.  There  is  nothing  beau- 
tiful or  grand  or  praiseworthy  that  the  poet's  eye 
will  not  detect  it,  and  the  poet's  art  reveal  it  in 
living  and  lasting  forms.  Let  the  scientist  delve 
and  the  poet  sing.  The  messages  between  them 
should  be  only  those  of  cheer. 

It  is  in  this  myriad-voiced  world  of  fields  and 
brooks,  of  mountain,  lake,  and  river,  of  storm  and 
cloud  and  of  the  changing  seasons,  that  poets  find 
the  images,  suggestions,  and  analogies  which  inter- 
pret and  illustrate  the  spiritual  life  of  man.  The 
more  rigid  study  of  science  in  laboratory  and  class- 
room is  necessary  to  the  student,  but  it  would  be  a 


226  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

narrow  and  pedantic  teacher  who  would  not  welcome 
the  poetic  temper  and  enthusiasm  in  nature  study. 

The  teachers  of  reading  have,  therefore,  the  best 
of  all  opportunities  for  cultivating  this  many-sided 
sympathy  for  and  insight  into  nature,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  train  the  children  to  correlate  these 
nature  poems  with  their  science  studies.  Observers 
like  Thoreau  and  Burroughs  give  us  the  greatest 
inducement  for  getting  out  into  the  woods.  They 
open  our  eyes  to  the  beauties  and  our  hearts  to  the 
truth  of  nature's  teachings.  These  are  the  gardens 
of  delight  where  science  and  poetry  walk  hand  in 
hand  and  speak  face  to  face.  It  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  show  that  many  of  the  greatest  scientists 
were  poets,  and  that  some  of  the  chiefest  poets  have 
been  foremost  in  scientific  study. 

8.   The  Sentiment  of  Patriotism  in  Literature. 

The  powerful  national  spirit  finds  expression  in 
many  forms  of  literature,  in  hymns,  in  war  song,  in 
oration,  in  essay,  in  pioneer  narrative,  in  stories  of  bat- 
tle, in  novel,  in  flag  song,  in  ballad,  and  in  biography. 

We  have  already  noted  the  great  significance  of 
American  history  stories  in  fourth  and  fifth  grades. 
It  is  from  the  early  pioneer  epoch  and  the  colonial 
history  that  we  derive  much  of  our  best  educative 
history.  The  heroism  of  these  old  days  has  been 
commemorated  in  story  and  poem  by  our  best  writers."' 

As  we  approach  the  Revolutionary  crisis  a  new  body 
of  choice  literary  products,  aglow  with  the  fire  of  patri- 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  227 

otism  and  independence,  is  found  stored  up  for  the  joy 
and  stimulus  of  our  growing  young  Americans :  "  Paul 
Revere's  Ride,"  "  Grandmother's  Story  of  Bunker 
Hill,"  Washington's  letters,  "  A  Ballad  of  the  Boston 
Tea  Party,"  "  Ode  for  Washington's  Birthday,"  "  Lex- 
ington" (Holmes),  "The  Song  of  Marion's  Men," 
"  The  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  Webster's  speeches 
at  Bunker  Hill  and  on  Adams  and  Jefferson,  "  Old 
Ticonderoga  "  (Hawthorne),  Burke's  speech  on  the 
American  War,  Washington's  "Farewell  to  the 
Army,"  The  Declaration  of  Independence,  "Under 
the  Old  Elm,"  and  descriptions  of  some  of  the  great 
scenes  of  the  war  by  our  best  historians. 

It  is  to  be  desired  that  children  in  the  seventh 
grade  may  have  opportunity  in  regular  history  lessons 
to  study  in  detail  a  few  of  the  central  topics  of  the 
Revolutionary  epoch.  This  will  put  them  in  touch 
with  the  spirit  and  surroundings  of  the  Americans. 

In  the  reading  lessons  of  the  same  grade  we  may 
well  afford  to  discover  and  feel  what  our  best  patriots 
and  men  of  letters  have  said  and  felt  in  view  of  the 
struggle  for  freedom.  The  noblest  expressions  of 
sentiment  upon  great  men  and  their  achievements 
are  contagious  with  the  young.  Patriotism  can  find 
no  better  soil  in  which  to  strike  its  deepest  roots  than 
the  noble  outbursts  of  our  orators  and  poets  and 
patriotic  statesmen.  The  cumulative  effect  of  these 
varied  but  kindred  materials  is  greater  than  when 
scattered  and  disconnected.     They  mutually  support 


228  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

each  other,  and  when  they  are  brought  into  close 
dependence  upon  parallel  historical  studies,  we  may 
well  say  that  the  children  are  drinking  from  the  deep 
and  pure  sources  of  true  Americanism. 

Parallel  to  whatever  history  we  attempt  to  teach  in 
the  eighth  grade  should  run  a  selection  of  the  best 
literary  products  that  our  American  authors  can 
furnish,  and  here  again  we  are  rich  in  resources. 
The  thought  and  life  of  our  people  find  their  high- 
water  mark  in  the  poet's  clarion  note  and  the  states- 
man's impassioned  appeal.  No  others  have  perceived 
the  destiny  of  our  young  republic  as  our  cherished 
poets,  Longfellow,  Whittier,  Bryant,  Holmes,  and 
Emerson.  They  have  stood  upon  the  mountain  tops, 
looking  far  and  wide  through  the  clear  atmosphere, 
while  the  great  army  of  the  people  has  been  tenting 
in  the  valleys  below.  These  wakeful  priests  and 
prophets  have  caught  the  bright  tints  of  the  morning 
while  the  people  were  still  asleep,  and  have  witnessed 
the  suffused  glory  of  the  sunset  clouds  when  the 
weary  masses  below  had  already  forgotten  the  day's 
toil.  One  thing  at  least,  and  that  the  greatest,  can  be 
done  for  our  children  before  they  finish  the  common 
school  course.  They  may  rise  into  this  pure  atmos- 
phere of  poet,  patriot,  sage,  and  prophet.  They  may 
hear  these  deathless  strains  and  feel  the  thrill  of  these 
ringing  notes.  Let  their  ears  be  once  attuned  to  the 
strength  and  harmony  of  this  music,  and  it  will  not 
cease    to   echo    in    their    inner    life.      The    future 


LITERARY   MATERIALS  229 

patriots  will  be  at  hand,  and  the  coming  years  will  see 
them  rising  to  the  great  duties  that  inevitably  await 
them.  We  have  a  body  of  noble,  patriotic  material 
which  is  capable  of  producing  this  effect  if  handled 
by  skilful  teachers:  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  The 
Federalist,  Numbers  1  and  2,  Washington's  "  In- 
augurals "  and  the  "  Farewell  Address,"  Everett's 
"  Oration  on  Washington,"  "  O  Mother  of  Mighty 
Race"  (Bryant);  "Our  Country's  Call"  (Bryant); 
"Abraham  Lincoln"  (Bryant);  Lincoln's  "Inaugu- 
rals "  and  "Gettysburg  Speech,"  "  Army  Hymn  "  and 
"  The  Flower  of  Liberty  "  (Holmes),  Webster's  "  Sec- 
ond Speech  on  Foot's  Resolution,"  The  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  "  The  Fortune  of  the  Republic " 
(Emerson),  etc.,  "  Antiquity  of  Freedom  "  (Bryant) ; 
"Centennial  Hymn"  (Whittier);  "The  Building  of 
the  Ship  "  (Longfellow)  ;  "  The  Poor  Voter  on  Elec- 
tion Day  "  (Whittier). 

Why  not  gather  together  these  sources  of  power, 
of  unselfish  patriotism,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  noble  and 
inspiring  impulse  ?  Let  this  fruit-bringing  seed  be 
sown  deep  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  receptive 
young.  What  has  inspired  the  best  of  men  to  high 
thinking  and  living  can  touch  them. 

It  is  not  by  reading  and  declaiming  a  few  miscel- 
laneous fragments  of  patriotic  gush,  not  by  waving 
flags  and  banners  and  following  processions,  that  the 
deeper  sentiments  of  patriotism  and  humanity  are  to 
be  touched,  but  by  gathering  and  concentrating  these 


230  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

fuller,  richer  sources  of  spiritual  power  and  conscious 
national  destiny.  The  schoolroom  is  by  far  the  best 
place  to  consolidate  these  purifying  and  conserving 
sentiments.  By  gathering  into  a  rising  series  and 
focussing  in  the  higher  grades  the  various  forms,  in 
prose  and  verse,  in  which  the  genius  of  our  country 
has  found  its  strongest  expression  ;  by  associating 
these  ringing  sentiments  with  the  epochs  and  crises 
of  our  history,  with  the  valorous  deeds  of  patriots 
upon  the  field  and  of  statesmen  in  the  senate,  with 
the  life  and  longings  of  home-nurtured  poets  and 
sages,  —  we  shall  plant  seed  whose  fruitage  will  not 
disappoint  the  lovers  of  the  fatherland. 

Mr.  Horace  E.  Scudder,  in  his  two  essays  on 
"  Literature  "  and  "  American  Classics  in  the  Common 
School,"  has  portrayed  with  convincing  clearness  the 
spiritual  power  and  high-toned  Americanism  which 
breathe  from  those  literary  monuments  which  have 
been  quarried  from  our  own  hillsides  and  chiselled  by 
American  hands.  We  recommend  to  every  teacher 
the  reading  in  full  of  these  essays,  from  which  we 
quote  at  much  length  :  — 

"  Fifty  years  ago  there  were  living  in  America  six 
men  of  mark,  of  whom  the  youngest  was  then  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  the  oldest  forty-four.  Three  of 
the  six  are  in  their  graves  and  three  still  breathe  the 
kindly  air.  [Since  this  was  written,  in  1888,  the  last 
of  the  six  has  passed  away.]  One  only  of  the  six 
has  held  high  place  in  the  national  councils,  and  it  is 


LITERARY   MATERIALS  23 1 

not  by  that  distinction  that  he  is  known  and  loved. 
They  have  not  been  in  battle ;  they  have  had  no 
armies  at  their  command;  they  have  not  amassed 
great  fortunes,  nor  have  great  industries  waited  on 
their  movements.  Those  pageants  of  circumstances 
which  kindle  the  imagination  have  been  remote  from 
their  names.  They  were  born  on  American  soil ; 
they  have  breathed  American  air ;  they  were  nurtured 
on  American  ideas.  They  are  Americans  of  Ameri- 
cans. They  are  as  truly  the  issue  of  our  national 
life  as  are  the  common  schools  in  which  we  glory. 
During  the  fifty  years  in  which  our  common  school 
system  has  been  growing  up  to  maturity  these  six 
have  lived  and  sung ;  and  I  dare  say  that  the  lives 
and  songs  of  Bryant,  Emerson,  Longfellow,  Whittier, 
Holmes,  and  Lowell  have  an  imperishable  value, 
regarded  as  exponents  of  national  life,  not  for  a 
moment  to  be  outweighed  in  the  balance  by  the  most 
elaborate  system  of  common  schools  which  the  wit  of 
man  may  devise.  The  nation  may  command  armies 
and  schools  to  rise  from  the  soil,  but  it  cannot  call 
into  life  a  poet.  Yet  when  the  poet  comes  and  we 
hear  his  voice  in  the  upper  air,  then  we  know  the 
nation  he  owns  is  worthy  of  the  name.  Do  men 
gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles  ?  Even  so, 
pure  poetry  springs  from  no  rank  soil  of  national 
life. 

"  I  am  not  arguing  for  the  critical  study  of   our 
great  authors,  in  the  higher  grades  of  our  schools. 


232  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

They  are  not  the  best  subjects  for  critical  scholar- 
ship ;  criticism  demands  greater  remoteness,  greater 
foreignness  of  nature.  Moreover,  critical  study  is 
not  the  surest  method  of  securing  the  full  measure 
of  spiritual  light,  though  it  yields  abundant  gain  in 
the  refinement  of  the  intellectual  nature  and  in  the 
quickening  of  the  perceptive  faculties.  I  am  arguing 
for  the  free,  generous  use  of  these  authors  in  the 
principal  years  of  school  life.  It  is  then  that  their 
power  is  most  profoundly  needed,  and  will  be  most 
strongly  felt.  We  need  to  put  our  children  in  their 
impressionable  years  into  instant  and  close  connec- 
tion with  the  highest  manifestation  of  our  national 
life.  Away  with  the  bottle  and  the  tube!  Give 
them  a  lusty  draft  at  the  mother's  full  breast! 

"Nor  do  I  fear  that  such  a  course  will  breed  a 
narrow  and  parochial  Americanism.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  would  destroy  a  vulgar  pride  in  country, 
help  the  young  to  see  humanity  from  the  heights 
on  which  the  masters  of  song  have  dwelt,  and  open 
the  mind  to  the  more  hospitable  entertainment  of 
the  best  literature  of  every  clime  and  age.  I  am 
convinced  that  there  is  no  surer  way  to  introduce 
the  best  English  literature  into  our  schools  than  to 
give  the  place  of  honor  to  American  literature.  In 
the  order  of  nature  a  youth  must  be  a  citizen  of  his 
own  country  before  he  can  become  naturalized  in  the 
world.  We  recognize  this  in  our  geography  and  his- 
tory ;  we  may  wisely  recognize  it  also  in  our  reading. 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  233 

"The  place,  then,  of  literature  in  our  common 
school  education  is  in  spiritualizing  life,  letting  light 
into  the  mind,  inspiring  and  feeding  the  higher  forces 
of  human  nature. 

"  It  is  the  business  of  the  old  to  transmit  to  the 
young  the  great  traditions  of  the  past  of  the  country, 
to  feed  anew  the  undying  flame  of  patriotism.  There 
is  the  element  of  destiny.  No  nation  lives  upon  its 
past ;  it  is  already  dead  when  it  says,  '  Let  us  eat  and 
drink  to-day;  for  to-morrow  we  die/  But  what  that 
destiny  is  to  be  may  be  read  in  the  ideals  which  the 
young  are  forming;  and  those  ideals,  again,  it  is 
the  business  of  the  old  to  guide.  They  cannot  form 
them;  the  young  must  form  them  for  themselves; 
but  whether  these  ideals  shall  be  large  or  petty, 
honorable  or  mean,  will  depend  upon  the  sustenance 
on  which  they  are  fed. 

"  Now  in  a  democracy,  more  signally  than  under 
any  other  form  of  national  organization,  it  is  vitally  nec- 
essary that  there  should  be  an  unceasing,  unimpeded 
circulation  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  people.  The 
sacrifice  of  the  men  and  women  who  have  made 
and  preserved  America,  from  the  days  of  Virginia 
and  New  England  to  this  hour,  has  been  ascending 
from  the  earth  in  a  never-ending  cloud;  they  have 
fallen  again  in  strains  of  music,  in  sculpture,  in 
painting,  in  memorial  hall,  in  tale,  in  oration,  in 
poem,  in  consecration  of  life;  and  the  spirit  which 
ascended  is  the  same  as  that  which  descended.     In 


234  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

literature  above  all  is  this  spirit  enshrined.  You 
have  but  to  throw  open  the  shrine,  and  the  spirit 
comes  with  its  outspread  blessings  upon  millions  of 
waiting  souls.  Entering  them,  it  reissues  in  count- 
less shapes,  and  thus  is  the  life  of  the  nation  in  its 
highest  form  kept  ever  in  motion,  and  without  motion 
is  no  life. 

"  The  deposit  of  nationality  is  in  laws,  institutions, 
art,  character,  and  religion;  but  laws,  institutions, 
character,  and  religion  are  expressed  through  art 
and  mainly  through  the  art  of  letters.  It  is  litera- 
ture, therefore,  that  holds  in  precipitation  the  genius 
of  the  country ;  and  the  higher  the  form  of  literature, 
the  more  consummate  the  expression  of  that  spirit 
which  does  not  so  much  seek  a  materialization  as 
it  shapes  itself  inevitably  in  fitting  form.  Long  may 
we  read  and  ponder  the  life  of  Washington,  yet  at 
last  fall  back  content  upon  those  graphic  lines  of 
Lowell  in  '  Under  the  Old  Elm/  which  cause  the 
figure  of  the  great  American  to  outline  itself  upon 
the  imagination  with  large  and  strong  portraiture. 
The  spirit  of  the  orations  of  Webster  and  Benton, 
the  whole  history  of  the  young  giant  poised  in  con- 
scious strength  before  his  triumphant  struggle,  one 
may  catch  in  a  breath  in  those  glowing  lines  which  end 
1  The  Building  of  the  Ship.'  The  deep  passion  of  the 
war  for  the  Union  may  be  overlooked  in  some  formal 
study  of  battles  and  campaigns,  but  rises  pure,  strong, 
and  flaming  in  the  immortal  '  Gettysburg  Speech/ 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  235 

"  Precisely  thus  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  must 
be  kept  fresh  and  living  in  the  hearts  of  the  young 
through  quick  and  immediate  contact  with  the 
sources  of  that  sentiment;  and  the  most  helpful 
means  are  those  spiritual  deposits  of  patriotism 
which  we  find  in  noble  poetry  and  lofty  prose,  as 
communicated  by  men  who  have  lived  patriotic  lives 
and  been  fed  with  coals  from  the  altar. 

"  It  is  from  the  men  and  women  bred  on  American 
soil  that  the  fittest  words  come  for  the  spiritual  en- 
richment of  American  youth.  I  believe  heartily  in 
the  advantage  of  enlarging  one's  horizon  by  taking 
in  other  climes  and  other  ages,  but  first  let  us  make 
sure  of  that  great  expansive  power  which  lies  close 
at  hand.  I  am  sure  there  never  was  a  time  or  coun- 
try where  national  education,  under  the  guidance 
of  national  art  and  thought,  was  so  possible  as  in 
America  to-day. 

"  The  body  of  wholesome,  strong  American  litera- 
ture is  large  enough  to  make  it  possible  to  keep  boys 
and  girls  upon  it  from  the  time  when  they  begin  to 
recognize  the  element  of  authorship  until  they  leave 
the  school,  and  it  is  varied  and  flexible  enough  to 
give  employment  to  the  mind  in  all  its  stages  of 
development.  Moreover,  this  literature  is  interest- 
ing, and  is  allied  with  interesting  concerns ;  half  the 
hard  places  are  overcome  by  the  willing  mind,  and 
the  boy  who  stumbles  over  some  jejune  lesson  in  his 
reading-book  will  run  over  a  bit  of  genuine  prose 


236  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

from  Irving  which  the  schoolbook  maker,  with  his 
calipers,  pronounces  too  hard. 

11  We  have  gone  quite  far  enough  in  the  mechani- 
cal development  of  the  common  school  system. 
What  we  most  need  is  the  breath  of  life,  and  reading 
offers  the  noblest  means  for  receiving  and  imparting 
this  breath  of  life.  The  spiritual  element  in  educa- 
tion in  our  common  schools  will  be  found  to  lie  in 
reserve  in  literature,  and,  as  I  believe,  most  effec- 
tively in  American  literature. 

"  Think  for  a  moment  of  that  great,  silent,  resist- 
less power  for  good  which  might  at  this  moment  be 
lifting  the  youth  of  the  country,  were  the  hours  for 
reading  in  school  expended  upon  the  undying,  life- 
giving  books !  Think  of  the  substantial  growth  of 
a  generous  Americanism,  were  the  boys  and  girls 
to  be  fed  from  the  fresh  springs  of  American  litera- 
ture !  It  would  be  no  narrow  provincialism  into 
which  they  would  emerge.  The  windows  in  Long- 
fellow's mind  looked  to  the  east,  and  the  children 
who  have  entered  into  possession  of  his  wealth  travel 
far.  Bryant's  flight  carries  one  through  upper  air, 
over  broad  champaigns.  The  lover  of  Emerson  has 
learned  to  get  a  remote  vision.  The  companion  of 
Thoreau  finds  Concord  become  suddenly  the  centre 
of  a  very  wide  horizon.  Irving  has  annexed  Spain 
to  America.  Hawthorne  has  nationalized  the  gods 
of  Greece  and  given  an  atmosphere  to  New  England. 
Whittier  has  translated  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  237 

the  American  dialect.  Lowell  gives  the  American 
boy  an  academy  without  cutting  down  a  stick  of 
timber  in  the  grove,  or  disturbing  the  birds.  Holmes 
supplies  that  hickory  which  makes  one  careless 
of  the  crackling  of  thorns.  Franklin  makes  the 
America  of  a  past  generation  a  part  of  the  great 
world  before  treaties  had  bound  the  floating  states 
into  formal  connection  with  venerable  nations. 
What  is  all  this  but  saying  that  the  rich  inheritance 
we  have  is  no  local  ten-acre  lot,  but  a  part  of  the 
undivided  estate  of  humanity.  Universality,  Cosmo- 
politanism, —  these  are  fine  words,  but  no  man  ever 
secured  the  freedom  of  the  Universe  who  did  not 
first  pay  taxes  and  vote  in  his  own  village.,,  —  "  Lit- 
erature in  School "  (Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.). 

9.  The  series  of  American  classics  is  nowise  con- 
fined to  the  ideas  of  local  or  national  patriotism,  but 
above  and  beyond  that  deep  and  powerful  sentiment 
which  magnifies  the  opportunity  and  manifest  destiny 
of  our  nation,  it  grasps  at  the  ideal  form  and  content 
of  those  Christian  virtues  which  now  and  evermore 
carry  healing  and  comfort  to  the  toiling  millions. 
Our  poets,  as  they  have  pondered  on  the  past  and 
looked  into  the  future,  were  not  able  to  be  content 
with  less  than  the  best.  As  the  vision  of  the  com- 
ing years  unrolled  itself  before  them  they  looked 
upon  it  with  joy  mingled  with  solicitude.  In  the 
mighty  conflicts  now  upon  us  only  those  of  generous 
and  saintly  purpose  and  of  pure  hearts  can  prevail. 


238  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

u  Brief  is  the  time,  I  know, 
The  warfare  scarce  begun  ; 
Yet  all  may  win  the  triumphs  thou  hast  won. 
Still  flows  the  fount  whose  waters  strengthened  thee, 
The  victors'  names  are  yet  too  few  to  fill 
Heaven's  mighty  roll ;  the  glorious  armory 
That  ministered  to  thee  is  open  still."  —  Bryant. 

To  reveal  this  Christian  armory,  the  defences  of 
the  soul  against  the  assaults  of  evil,  has  been  the 
highest  inspiration  of  our  poets.  What  depth  and 
beauty  and  impersonation  of  Christian  virtues  do  we 
find  in  " Snow-Bound,"  "  Among  the  Hills,"  "Evange- 
line, "The  Conqueror's  Grave,"  "To  a  Waterfowl," 
"  The  Groves  were  God's  First  Temples,"  "  The  Liv- 
ing Temple,"  "The  Sun  Day  Hymn,"  "The  Cham- 
bered Nautilus,"  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  "The 
Great  Stone  Face." 

The  Bible  is  not  generally  admissible  as  a  school- 
book,  but  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  clad  in  the  forms 
of  strength  and  grace,  is  immanent  in  the  works  of 
our  poets.  So  universal,  so  human,  so  fit  to  the 
needs  and  destinies  of  men,  are  the  truths  of  the 
great  evangel,  that  the  prophets  and  seers  of  our 
race  drift  evermore  into  the  sheltering  haven  they 
supply.  To  drink  in  these  potent  truths  through 
poetry  and  song,  to  see  them  enshrined  in  the  im- 
agery and  fervor  of  the  sacred  masterpieces  of  our 
literature,  is  more  than  culture,  more  than  morality ; 
it  is  the  portal  and  sanctuary  of  religious  thought, 
and  children  may  enter  it. 


LITERARY   MATERIALS  239 

10.  The  higher  products  of  literature  contain  an 
energy  that  quickens  spiritual  life  in  morals,  in  art, 
and  in  religion.  To  many  people,  whose  lives  are 
submerged  in  commercial  pursuits  or  in  the  great 
struggle  to  develop  and  utilize  the  material  resources 
of  the  world,  these  spiritual  forces  seem  vague  and 
shadowy,  if  not  mythical.  But  there  are  plenty  of 
heroic  souls  in  the  realm  of  letters,  such  as  Emerson, 
Scudder,  Ruskin,  Arnold,  and  Carlyle,  who  are  not 
disposed  to  let  men  settle  down  in  lazy  satisfaction 
with  material  good,  nor  to  be  blinded  even  by  the 
splendor  of  modern  achievements  in  engineering, 
in  medicine,  and  in  the  application  of  electricity. 
We  must  at  least  reach  a  point  of  view  high  enough 
to  perceive  the  relations  of  these  natural  riches  to 
the  higher  nature  and  destiny  of  man. 

Scudder  says,  "It  is  to  literature  that  we  must 
look  for  the  substantial  protection  of  the  growing 
mind  against  an  ignoble,  material  conception  of  life, 
and  for  the  inspiring  power  which  shall  lift  the 
nature  into  its  rightful  fellowship  with  whatsoever 
is  noble,  true,  lovely,  and  of  good  report.' ' 

Shelley,  in  like  spirit,  says :  "  The  cultivation  of 
poetry  is  never  more  to  be  desired  than  at  periods 
when,  from  an  excess  of  the  selfish  and  calculating 
principle,  the  accumulation  of  the  materials  of  ex- 
ternal life  exceed  the  quantity  of  the  power  of  as- 
similating them  to  the  internal  laws  of  human  nature. 
The  body  has  then  become  too  unwieldy  for  that 
which  animates  it." 


24O  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Matthew  Arnold,  in  "  Sweetness  and  Light,"  while 
discussing  the  function  of  that  truer  culture  and  "  per- 
fection which  consists  in  becoming  something  rather 
than  in  having  something,"  remarks  :  — 

"  And  this  function  is  particularly  important  in  our 
modern  world,  of  which  the  whole  civilization  is,  to  a 
much  greater  degree  than  the  civilization  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  mechanical  and  external,  and  tends  con- 
stantly to  become  more  so.  But  above  all  in  our  own 
country  has  culture  a  weighty  part  to  perform  because 
here  that  mechanical  character,  which  civilization 
tends  to  take  everywhere,  is  shown  in  the  most  emi- 
nent degree.  Indeed,  nearly  all  the  characters  of 
perfection,  as  culture  teaches  us  to  fix  them,  meet  in 
this  country  with  some  powerful  tendency  which 
thwarts  them  and  sets  them  at  defiance.  The  idea 
of  perfection  as  an  inward  condition  of  the  mind  and 
spirit  is  at  variance  with  the  mechanical  and  material 
civilization  in  esteem  with  us,  and  nowhere,  as  I  have 
said,  so  much  in  esteem  as  with  us." 

11.  Judged  by  these  higher  standards  our  writers 
and  literary  leaders  were  not  simply  Americans.  They 
were  also  Europeans.  The  Puritan  brought  his  reli- 
gion with  him,  the  Cavalier  acquired  his  gentlemanly 
instincts  in  the  old  home,  not  in  the  untrodden  forests 
of  the  New  World.  Much  of  what  we  call  American 
is  the  wine  of  the  Old  World  poured  into  .the  bear- 
skins and  buckskins  of  the  West,  with  a  flavor  of  the 
freedom  of   our  Western  wilds.     Though  born  and 


LITERARY    MATERIALS  24 1 

bred  on  American  soil  and  to  the  last  exemplars  of 
the  American  spirit,  our  literary  leaders  have  derived 
their  ideas  and  inspiration  from  the  literature,  tradi- 
tion, and  history  of  the  Old  World.  It  will  be  no 
small  part  of  our  purpose,  therefore,  to  open  up  to 
the  children  of  our  common  schools  the  best  entrance 
to  the  history  and  literature  of  Europe.  Our  own 
writers  and  poets  have  done  this  for  us  in  a  variety  of 
instances :  Hawthorne's  rendering  of  the  Greek  myths, 
Bryant's  translation  of  the  "  Iliad  "  and  "  Odyssey," 
a  good  half  of  Irving's  "  Sketch-Book,"  Lowell's 
"Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  "Aladdin,"  and  "Prome- 
theus," Irving's  "Alhambra,"  Longfellow's  "Golden 
Legend,"  "  Sandalphon,"  Taylor's  "  Boys  of  Other 
Countries."  Nearly  the  whole  of  our  literature,  even 
when  dealing  ostensibly  with  American  topics,  is  suf- 
fused with  the  spirit  and  imagery  of  the  Old  World 
traditions.  There  is  also  a  large  collection  of  prose 
versions  of  European  traditions,  which,  while  not 
classic,  are  still  lively  renderings  of  old  stories  and 
well  suited  to  the  collateral  reading  of  children.  Such 
are  "  Gods  and  Heroes,"  "  Tales  from  English  His- 
tory," "  Tales  from  Spenser,"  "  Heroes  of  Asgard," 
"  Story  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey." 

The  transition  from  our  own  poets  who  have 
handled  European  themes  to  English  writers  who 
have  done  the  same,  is  easy  and  natural ;  Macaulay's 
"  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  Scott's  "  Tales  of  a  Grand- 
father," "  The  Stories  of  Waverley,"  the  "  Christmas 


242  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Carol,"  Kingsley's  "Greek  Heroes"  and  "Water 
Babies,"  Ruskin's  "King  of  the  Golden  River," 
"Lady  of  the  Lake,"  "  Marmion,"  "  Roger  de  Coverley 
Papers,"  "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  "  Arabian  Nights," 
"Peasant  and  Prince,"  Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress," "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  and  others  have  become 
by  inheritance  and  birthright  as  much  a  part  of  the 
American  child's  culture  as  the  more  distinctive  prod- 
ucts of  our  own  writers.  No  line  can  be  drawn  be- 
tween those  writings  which  are  American  and  those 
which  sprung  from  the  soil  of  England  and  Europe. 
So  intimate  and  vital  is  the  connection  between  our 
present  and  our  past,  between  our  children  and  their 
cousins  across  the  water. 

These  American  and  European  literary  products  lie 
side  by  side  in  the  school  course,  though  the  predomi- 
nating spirit  through  the  middle  and  higher  grades 
up  to  the  eighth  should  be  American.  We  have 
noticed  that  in  the  earlier  grades  most  of  our  classic 
reading  matter  comes  from  Europe,  the  nursery 
rhymes,  the  folk-lore,  fables,  and  myths,  because 
the  childhood  of  our  culture  periods  was  in  Europe. 
But  into  the  fourth  grade,  and  from  there  on,  begin- 
ning with  the  pioneers  on  sea  and  land,  our  American 
history  and  literature  enters  as  a  powerful  agent  of 
culture.  It  brings  us  into  quick  and  vital  contact,  not 
simply  with  the  outward  facts,  but  with  the  inmost 
spirit,  of  our  national  life  and  struggle  toward  de- 
velopment.    This  gives  the  American  impulse  free 


LITERARY   MATERIALS  243 

and  full  expansion,  and  fortunate  are  we,  beyond 
expression,  that  pure  and  lofty  poets  stand  at  the 
threshold  to  usher  the  children  into  this  realm, 
founded  deep  in  the  realism  of  our  past  history  and 
rising  grandly  into  the  idealism  of  our  desires  and 
hopes.  As  we  advance  into  the  sixth,  seventh, 
and  eighth  grades  the  literature  of  Europe  begins 
again  to  increase  in  quantity  and  influence,  and  to 
share  equally  with  American  authors  the  attention 
of  the  children. 

The  Americanism  of  our  poets  and  prose  writers, 
as  previously  shown,  has  also  another  side  to  it,  which 
is  one  sign  of  the  breadth  and  many-sidedness  of  lit- 
erature as  a  study  for  the  young.  North  America  is 
a  land  rich  in  variety  of  natural  scenery  and  resource. 
Nature  has  decked  the  New  World  with  a  lavish  hand, 
forest  and  mountain,  lake  and  river,  prairie  and 
desert,  the  summer  land  of  flowers  and  the  home  of 
New  England  winters.  The  masterpieces  of  our  poets 
are  full  of  the  scenery,  vegetation,  sunsets,  mountains, 
and  prairies  of  the  Western  empire.  The  flowers,  the 
birds,  the  wild  beasts,  the  pathless  forests,  the  limit- 
less stretches  of  plain,  have  mirrored  themselves  in 
the  songs  of  our  poets,  and  have  rendered  them 
dearer  to  us  because  seen  and  realized  in  this  ideal- 
ism. Unconsciously  perhaps  the  feeling  of  patri- 
otism is  largely  based  upon  this  knowledge  of  the 
rich  and  varied  beauty  and  bounty  of  our  native 
land. 


244  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

u  I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills, 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills, 
Like  that  above." 

As  along  the  shores  of  our  Northern  lakes  the  clear 
and  quiet  waters  reflect  the  green  banks,  the  rolling, 
forest-crowned  hills,  the  rocky  bluffs,  the  floating 
clouds,  and  overarching  blue,  so  in  the  homespun, 
classic  verse  and  prose  of  our  own  writers  are  imaged 
the  myriad  charms  of  our  native  land.  Bryant 
especially  is  the  poet  of  forest  and  glade,  "  The  For- 
est Hymn,"  "  The  Death  of  the  Flowers,"  "  The  Re- 
turn of  the  Birds,"  "A  Summer  Ramble,"  "The 
Fringed  Gentian,"  "The  Hunter  of  the  Prairies," 
"The  White-footed  Deer,"  "To  a  Waterfowl," 
"  Thanatopsis,"  and  many  others.  Longfellow's 
"Hiawatha,"  "Evangeline";  Whittier's  "Barefoot 
Boy,"  "Songs  of  Labor,"  "Among  the  Hills,"  and 
"  Snow-Bound  "  ;  Hawthorne's  "  Tales  of  the  White 
Hills";  Holmes's  "Spring";  Lowell's  "Indian  Sum- 
mer Reverie,"  "The  Oak,"  and  many  more. 

The  literature  selected  for  these  grades  has  a  wide 
scope.  It  is  instinct  with  the  best  Americanism.  It 
draws  from  Europe  at  every  breath,  while  enjoying 
the  freedom  of  the  West.  Social,  political,  and  home 
life  and  virtue  are  portrayed  in  great  variety  of  dress. 
Nature  also  and  natural  science  reveal  the  myriad 
forms  of  beauty  and  utility. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Class-room  Method  in  Reading 

i.    Preparation. 

There  is  a  strong  comfort  in  the  idea  that  in  the 
preparation  of  a  masterpiece  for  a  reading  class  the 
teacher  may  be  dealing  with  a  unity  of  thought  in  a 
variety  of  relations  that  makes  the  study  a  compre- 
hensive culture-product  both  to  herself  and  to  the 
children.  To  become  a  student  of  "  Hiawatha  "  as  a 
whole,  and  in  its  relations  to  Indian  life  and  tradition, 
early  aboriginal  history,  and  Longfellow's  connection 
with  the  same,  is  to  throw  a  glance  into  history 
and  anthropology,  and  to  recognize  literature  as  the 
permanent  form  of  expressing  their  spirit.  There 
are  a  good  many  side-lights  that  a  teacher  needs  to 
get  from  history  and  other  literature,  and  from  the 
author's  life,  in  order  to  see  a  literary  masterpiece  in 
its  true  setting.  It  is  the  part  of  the  poet  to  make 
his  work  intensely  real  and  ideal,  the  two  elements 
that  appeal  with  trenchant  force  to  children.  The 
teacher  needs  not  only  to  see  the  graphic  pictures 
drawn  by  the  artist,  but  to  gather  about  these  central 
points  of  view  other  collateral,  explanatory  facts  that 
give  a  deeper  setting  to  the  picture.      Fortunately, 

245 


246  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

such  study  as  this  is  not  burdensome.  There  is  a 
joyousness  and  sparkle  to  it  that  can  relieve  many 
an  hour  of  tedium.  Literature  in  its  best  forms  is 
recreation,  and  brings  an  infusion  of  spiritual  energy. 
We  should  not  allow  ourselves  to  confuse  it  with 
those  more  humdrum  forms  of  school  employment, 
like  spelling,  figuring,  reading  in  the  formal  sense, 
grammar,  writing,  etc.  Literature  is  the  spiritual 
side  of  school  effort,  the  uplands  of  thought,  where 
gushing  springs  well  from  the  roots  and  shade  of 
overarching  trees.  There  is  jollity  and  music,  beauty 
and  grandeur,  the  freshness  of  cool  breezes  and  of 
mountain  scenery,  in  such  profusion  as  to  satisfy  the 
exuberance  of  youthful  spirit,  and  to  infuse  new 
energy  into  old  and  tired  natures.  If  the  teacher 
can  only  get  out  of  the  narrow  streets  of  the  town 
and  from  between  the  dead  walls  of  the  schoolroom, 
up  among  the  meadows  and  groves  and  brooks,  in 
company  with  Bryant  or  Longfellow  or  Whittier,  if  she 
can  only  take  a  draught  of  these  spirit-waters  before 
walking  into  the  schoolroom,  her  thought  and  con- 
duct will  be  tempered  into  a  fit  instrument  of  culture. 
The  teachers  preparation  is  not  only  in  the  intel- 
lectual grasp  of  the  thought,  but  in  the  sympathy, 
feeling,  and  pleasure  germane  to  a  classic.  The 
aesthetic  and  emotional  elements,  the  charm  of  poetry, 
and  the  sparkle  of  wit  and  glint  of  literary  elegance 
and  aptness  are  what  give  relish  and  delight  to  true 
literary  products.     Literature  appeals  to  the  whole 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  247 

nature  and  not  to  the  intellect  alone.  It  is  not  super- 
ficial and  formal,  but  deep  and  spiritual.  The  teacher 
who  reads  a  classic  like  "  Marmion,"  thoughtfully 
dwelling  upon  the  historic  pictures,  calling  to  mind 
other  of  Scott's  stories  and  the  earlier  struggle  be- 
tween Scotland  and  England,  is  drinking  at  the  fresh 
fountains  and  sources  of  some  of  the  best  parts  of 
European  history.  The  clear  and  rock-rimmed  lakes 
of  Scotland,  her  rugged  mountains  and  ruined  castle 
walls,  are  not  more  delightful  to  the  traveller  than  the 
pictures  of  life  and  history  that  appear  in  "  Tales  of 
a  Grandfather/'  "  Rob  Roy,"  "  Marmion,"  and  "  Lady 
of  the  Lake."  To  paint  these  stirring  panoramic 
views  of  Scotch  adventure  and  prowess  upon  the 
imagination  of  the  young  is  to  invigorate  their  thought 
with  the  real  sentiment  of  patriotism,  and  with  appre- 
ciation for  manly  struggle,  endurance,  and  spirit. 
The  vivid  insight  it  gives  into  feudal  society  in 
church  and  court  and  castle,  on  battle-field  and  in 
dining  hall,  among  the  rude  peasantry  and  the  unlet- 
tered nobility,  is  found  more  lifelike  and  lasting 
than  the  usual  results  of  historical  study. 

The  moment  we  take  a  longer  masterpiece  and 
examine  it  as  a  representative  piece  of  human  life,  or 
as  a  typical  portraiture  of  a  historical  epoch,  it 
becomes  the  converging  point  for  much  lively  and 
suggestive  knowledge,  deep  and  strong  social  inter- 
ests, and  convincing  personification  of  moral  impulses. 

The  best  preparation,  therefore,  a  teacher  can  make 


248  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

for  a  class  is  a  spiritual  and  spirited  one.  At  first 
the  linguistic,  formal,  verbal  mastery  of  literature,  its 
critical  examination,  even  its  elocution,  should  remain 
in  the  background  both  for  teacher  and  children. 
Let  the  direct  impress  of  the  thought,  motive,  and 
emotion  of  the  characters  be  unimpeded;  give  the 
author  a  chance  to  speak  direct  to  the  hearts  of  the 
children,  and  the  avenue  toward  the  desired  results  in 
formal  reading  will  be  left  wide  open. 

We  would  not  deny  that  a  certain  labor  is  required 
of  the  teacher  in  such  preparation.  But,  in  the  main, 
it  is  a  refreshing  kind  of  labor.  If  it  brings  a  feel- 
ing of  weariness,  it  is  the  kind  that  conduces  to 
sound  and  healthy  sleep.  It  invokes  a  feeling  of 
inward  power  and  of  accumulated  rich  resource  that 
helps  us  to  meet  with  confidence  the  emergencies 
and  opportunities  of  instruction. 

2.  In  the  assignment  of  the  lesson  the  teacher  has  a 
chance  to  give  the  children  a  glimpse  of  the  pleasure 
that  awaits  them,  and  to  catch  a  little  of  the  enthu- ' 
siasm  which  her  own  study  has  awakened.  This 
should  be  done  briefly  and  by  significant  suggestion. 
In  first  introducing  a  longer  work,  it  will  pay  to 
occupy  more  than  is  usual  in  recitations  in  opening 
up  the  new  subject;  if  it  is  historical,  in  locating  the 
time,  circumstances,  and  geographical  setting.  The 
chief  aim  of  the  assignment  should  be  to  awaken 
curiosity  and  interest  which  may  be  strong  enough  to 
lead  to  a  full  and  appreciative  study  of  the  lesson. 


A  second  aim  of  the  assignment  is  to  pave  the  way 
to  an  easier  mastery  of  verbal  difficulties  that  arise, 
such  as  new  and  difficult  words,  obscure  or  involved 
passages.  The  first  aim  is  a  substantial  and  fruitful 
one.  It  approaches  the  whole  reading  lesson  from 
the  side  of  interest  and  spirit.  It  seeks  to  plant 
direct  incentives  and  suggestions  deep  enough  in  the 
mind  to  start  effort.  The  assignment  should  take  it 
for  granted  that  natural  interest. and  absorption  in 
the  thought  will  lead  directly  to  that  kind  of  vigorous 
effort  and  mastery  that  will  secure  natural  and  ex- 
pressive oral  reading.  Look  well  to  the  deeper 
springs  of  thought  and  action,  and  the  formal  read- 
ing will  open  just  the  avenue  needed  to  realize  good 
expression. 

Skill,  originality,  and  teaching  art  are  much  needed 
in  the  assignment.  It  is  not  how  much  the  teacher 
says,  but  the  suggestiveness  of  it,  the  problems 
raised,  the  questions  whose  answers  lie  in  the  exam- 
ination of  the  lesson.  The  reference  to  previous 
readings  which  bear  resemblance  to  this  selection; 
the  inquiry  into  children's  experiences,  sets  them  to 
thinking. 

Sometimes  it  pays  to  spend  five  or  ten  minutes  in 
attacking  the  difficult  words  and  meanings  of  the 
lesson  assigned.  Let  the  class  read  on  and  discover 
words  or  phrases  that  puzzle  them.  Let  difficult 
forms  be  put  on  the  board  and  syllabicated  if  neces- 
sary. A  brief  study  of  synonymous  words  and 
phrases  may  be  in  place. 


250  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

It  is  a  mistake  to  decline  all  helpful  and  sugges- 
tive study  of  the  next  lesson  in  class,  on  the  ground 
that  it  invalidates  the  self-activity  of  children.  Self- 
activity  is,  indeed,  the  chief  aim  of  a  good  assign- 
ment. It  is  designed  to  stimulate  the  children  to 
energetic  and  well-directed  effort.  Self-activity  is 
not  encouraged  by  requiring  children  to  struggle 
with  obstacles  they  have  not  the  ability  to  surmount. 
Pronouncing  new  words  and  searching  for  dictionary 
meanings  is  often  made  a  mechanical  labor  which  is 
irksome  and  largely  fruitless,  because  the  wrong 
pronunciations  are  learned  and  the  definitions  do 
not  fit.  Before  children  are  required  to  use  the  dic- 
tionary in  pronouncing  and  defining  words,  they  need 
careful  exercises  in  how  to  use  and  to  interpret  the 
dictionary. 

The  teacher  needs  to  make  a  study  of  the  art  of 
assigning  lessons.  Clearness  and  simplicity,  so  as  to 
give  no  ground  for  misunderstandings,  are  the  result 
of  thoughtful  preparation  on  the  teacher's  part. 
There  is  always  danger  of  giving  too  much  or  too 
little,  of  carelessness  and  unsteady  requirements, 
overburdening  the  children  one  day,  and  even  for- 
getting the  next  day  to  assign  a  definite  task.  The 
forethought  and  precision  with  which  a  teacher 
assigns  her  lessons  is  one  of  the  best  tests  of  her 
prudence  and  success  in  teaching. 

It  is  necessary  also  to  be  on  one's  guard  against 
hasty  assignments.       Even  when   proper   care   has 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  25 1 

been  taken  in  planning  the  next  lesson,  the  time 
slips  by  with  urgent  work,  and  the  signal  for  dis- 
missal comes  before  time  has  been  taken  for  any 
clear  assignment. 

If  the  teacher  knows  just  what  references  will 
throw  added  light  upon  the  lesson,  what  books  and 
pages  will  be  directly  helpful,  if  he  can  appoint  dif- 
ferent pupils  to  look  up  particular  references  and 
sometimes  even  go  to  the  library  with  them  and 
search  for  the  references,  in  grades  from  the  fifth 
through  the  eighth,  the  result  may  be  very  helpful. 
In  the  class  recitation  it  is  necessary  to  gather  up 
the  fruits  of  this  reference  work  with  as  little  waste 
of  time  as  possible,  recognizing  that  it  is  purely 
collateral  to  the  main  purpose. 

Pictures  and  maps  are  useful  oftentimes  as  refer- 
ences. As  children  advance  in  the  grades,  they  are 
capable  of  greater  independence  and  judgment  in  the 
use  of  such  materials.  General,  loose,  and  indefinite 
references  are  a  sign  of  ignorance,  carelessness,  and 
lack  of  preparation  on  the  teacher's  part.  They  are 
discouraging  and  unprofitable  to  children.  But  we 
desire  to  see  children  broadening  their  views,  extend- 
ing their  knowledge  of  books  and  of  how  to  use  them. 
The  amount  of  good  literature  that  can  be  well 
treated  and  read  in  the  class  is  small,  but  much  sug- 
gestive outside  home  and  vacation  reading  may  be 
encouraged,  that  will  open  a  still  wider  and  richer 
area  of  personal  study. 


252  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

3.  In  spite  of  all  the  precautions  of  the  teacher,  in 
spite  of  lively  interest  and  intelligent  study  by  the 
children,  there  will  be  many  haltings  and  blunders, 
many  inaccuracies  in  the  use  of  eye  and  voice. 
These  faults  spring  partly  from  habit  and  previous 
home  influences.  The  worst  faults  are  often  those 
of  which  a  child  is  unconscious,  so  habitual  have  they 
become.  If  we  are  to  meet  these  difficulties  wisely, 
we  must  start  and  keep  up  a  strong  momentum  in 
the  class.  There  should  be  a  steady  and  strong 
current  of  effort  in  which  all  share.  This  depends, 
as  has  been  often  said,  upon  the  power  of  the  selec- 
tion to  awaken  the  thought  and  feeling  of  the  chil- 
dren. It  depends  equally  upon  the  pervasive  spirit 
and  energy  of  the  teacher.  If  we  try  to  analyze  this 
complex  phenomenon,  we  may  find  that,  so  far  as  the 
children  are  concerned,  two  elements  are  present, 
natural  and  spontaneous  absorption  in  the  ideas  and 
sensibilities  awakened  by  the  author,  and  the  bracing 
conviction  that  sustained  effort  is  expected  and  re- 
quired by  the  teacher.  Children,  to  read  well,  must 
be  free ;  they  must  feel  the  force  of  ideas  and  of  the 
emotions  and  convictions  awakened  by  them.  They 
must  also  be  conscious  of  that  kind  of  authority  and 
control  which  insists  upon  serious  and  sustained 
effort.  Freedom  to  exercise  their  own  powers  and 
obedience  to  a  controlling  influence  are  needful.  If 
the  teacher  can  secure  this  right  movement  and  fer- 
ment in  a  class,  she  will  be  able  to  correct  the  errors 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  253 

and  change  bad  habits  into  the  desired  form  of  ex- 
pression. The  correction  of  errors,  in  the  main, 
should  be  quiet,  incidental,  suggestive,  not  disturbing 
the  child's  thought  and  effort,  not  destroying  the 
momentum  of  his  sentiment  and  feeling.  Let  him 
move  on  firmly  and  vigorously ;  only  direct  his  move- 
ment here  and  there,  modify  his  tone  by  easy  sugges- 
tions and  pertinent  questions,  and  encourage  him  as 
far  as  possible  in  his  own  effort  to  appreciate  and 
express  the  author's  idea. 

In  reading  lessons  there  are  certain  purely  formal 
exercises  that  are  very  helpful.  The  single  and  con- 
cert pronunciation  of  difficult  or  unusual  words  that 
come  up  in  old  and  new  lessons,  the  vocal  exercises 
in  syllabication  and  in  vowel  and  consonant  drill,  are 
examples.  They  should  be  quick  and  vigorous,  and 
preliminary  to  their  application  in  lessons. 

4.  The  teacher  is  only  a  guide  and  interpreter. 
With  plenty  of  reserve  power,  he  should  only  draw 
upon  it  occasionally.  His  chief  business  is  not  to 
show  the  children  how  to  read  by  example,  nor  to  be 
always  explaining  and  amplifying  the  thought  of  the 
author.  His  aim  should  be  to  best  call  the  minds  of 
the  children  into  strong  action  through  the  stimula- 
tion of  the  author's  thought,  and  to  go  a  step  farther 
and  reproduce  and  mould  this  thought  into  oral 
expression. 

In  order  to  call  out  the  best  efforts  of  children,  a 
teacher  needs  to  study  well  the  art  of  questioning. 


254  SPECIAL    METHOD   IN    READING 

The  range  of  possibilities  in  questioning  is  very 
wide.  If  a  rational,  sensible  question  is  regarded  as 
the  central  or  zero  point,  there  are  many  degrees 
below  it  in  the  art  of  questioning  and  many  degrees 
above  it.  Below  it  is  a  whole  host  of  half -rational  or 
useless  questions  which  would  better  be  left  unborn: 
What  does  this  word  mean  ?  Why  didn't  you  study 
your  lesson  ?  Why  weren't  you  paying  attention  ? 
What  is  the  definition  of  also  ?  How  many  mistakes 
did  Mary  make  ? 

Much  time  is  sometimes  wasted  in  trying  to  an- 
swer aimless  or  trivial  questions :  Peter,  what  does 
this  strange  word  mean,  or  how  do  you  pronounce  it  ? 
Ethel  may  try  it.  Who  thinks  he  can  pronounce  it 
better?  Johnny,  try  it.  Perhaps  somebody  knows 
how  it  ought  to  be.  Sarah,  can't  you  pronounce  it  ? 
Finally,  after  various  efforts,  the  teacher  passes  on  to 
something  else  without  even  making  clear  the  true 
pronunciation  or  meaning.  This  is  worse  than  kill- 
ing time.  It  is  befuddling  the  children.  A  question 
should  aim  clearly  at  some  important  idea,  and  should 
bring  out  a  definite  result.  The  children  should 
have  time  to  think,  but  not  to  guess  and  dawdle,  and 
then  be  left  groping  in  the  dark. 

The  chief  aim  of  questions  is  to  arouse  vigor  and 
variety  of  thought  as  a  means  of  better  appreciation 
and  expression.  Children  read  poorly  because  they 
do  not  see  the  meaning  or  do  not  feel  the  force 
of  the  sentiment.     They  give  wrong  emphasis  and 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  255 


intonation.  A  good  question  is  like  a  flash  of  light- 
ning which  suddenly  reveals  our  standing-ground  and 
surroundings,  and  gives  the  child  a  chance  to  strike 
out  again  for  himself.  His  intelligence  lights  up,  he 
sees  the  point,  and  responds  with  a  significant  ren- 
dering of  the  thought.  But  the  teacher  must  be  a 
thinker  to  ask  simple  and  pertinent  questions.  He 
can't  go  at  it  in  a  loose  and  lumbering  fashion. 
Lively  and  sympathetic  and  appreciative  of  the 
child's  moods  and  feelings  must  he  be,  as  well  as 
clear  and  definite  in  his  own  perception  of  the 
author's  meaning. 

Questioning  for  meaning  is  equivalent  to  that  for 
securing  expression,  and  thus  two  birds  are  hit  with 
one  stone.  A  pointed  question  energizes  thought 
along  a  definite  line,  and  leads  to  a  more  intense  and 
vivid  perception  of  the  meaning.  This  is  just  the 
vantage-ground  we  desire  in  order  to  secure  good 
expression.  We  wish  children  not  to  imitate,  but 
first  to  see  and  feel,  and  then  to  express  in  becoming 
wise  the  thought  as  they  see  it  and  feel  it.  This 
makes  reading  a  genuine  performance,  not  a  parrot- 
like formalism. 

5.  Trying  to  awaken  the  mental  energy  and  action 
of  a  class  as  they  move  on  through  a  masterpiece, 
requires  constant  watchfulness  to  keep  alive  their 
sense-perceptions  and  memories,  and  to  touch  their 
imaginations  into  constructive  effort  at  every  turn  in 
the  road.     Through  the  direct  action  of   the  senses 


256  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

the  children  have  accumulated  much  variety  of  sense- 
materials,  of  country  and  town,  of  hill,  valley,  river, 
lake,  fields,  buildings,  industries,  roads,  homes,  gar- 
dens, seasons.  Out  of  this  vast  and  varied  quarry 
they  are  able  to  gather  materials  with  which  to  con- 
struct any  landscape  or  situation  you  may  desire. 
Give  the  children  abundance  of  opportunity  to  use 
these  collected  riches,  and  to  construct,  each  in  his 
own  way,  the  scenes  and  pictures  that  the  poet's 
art  so  vividly  suggests.  Many  of  the  questions  we 
ask  of  children  are  designed  simply  to  recall  and 
reawaken  images  which  lie  dormant  in  their  minds, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  find  out  whether  they  can 
combine  their  old  sense-perceptions  so  skilfully  and 
vividly  as  to  realize  the  present  situation.  Keen  and 
apt  questions  will  reach  down  into  the  depth  of  a 
child's  life  experiences  and  bring  up  concrete  images 
which  the  fancy  then  modifies  and  adjusts  to  the 
present  need.  The  teacher  may  often  suggest  some- 
thing in  his  own  observations  to  kindle  like  memories 
in  theirs.  Or,  if  the  subject  seems  unfamiliar,  he 
may  bring  on  a  picture  from  book  or  magazine. 
Sometimes  a  sketch  or  diagram  on  the  board  may 
give  sense-precision  and  definiteness  to  the  object 
discussed,  even  though  it  be  rudely  drawn.  This  con- 
stant appeal  to  what  is  real  and  tangible  and  experi- 
mental, not  only  locates  things  definitely  in  time  and 
space,  makes  clear  and  plain  what  was  hazy  or  mean- 
ingless, awakens  interest  by  connecting  the  story  or 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  257 

description  with  former  experiences,  but  it  sets  in 
action  the  creative  imagination  which  shapes  and 
builds  up  new  and  pleasing  structures,  combining  old 
and  new.  This  kind  of  mental  elaboration,  which 
reaches  back  into  the  senses  and  forward  into  the 
imagination,  is  what  gives  mobility  and  adjustability  to 
our  mental  resources.  It  is  not  stiff  and  rigid  and 
refractory  knowledge  that  we  need.  Ideas  may 
retain  their  truth  and  strength,  their  inward  quality, 
and  still  submit  to  infinite  variations  and  adjustments. 
Water  is  one  of  the  most  serviceable  of  all  nature's 
compounds,  because  it  has  such  mobility  of  form, 
such  capacity  to  dissolve  and  take  into  solution  other 
substances,  or  of  being  absorbed  and  even  lost  sight 
of  in  other  bodies.  The  ideas  we  have  gathered  and 
stored  up  from  all  sources  are  our  building  mate- 
rials ;  the  imagination  is  the  architect  who  conceives 
the  plan  and  directs  the  use  of  different  materials 
in  the  growth  of  the  new  structures.  The  teach- 
er's chief  function  in  reading  classes  is,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  see  that  children  revive  and  utilize  their 
sense-knowledge,  and  on  the  other,  to  wake  the 
sleeping  giant  and  set  him  to  work  to  build  the 
beauteous  structures  for  which  the  materials  have 
been  prepared.  But  for  this,  teachers  could  be  dis- 
pensed with.  As  Socrates  said,  they  are  only 
helpers  ;  they  stand  by,  not  to  perform  the  work,  but 
to  gently  guide,  to  stimulate,  and  now  and  then  to 
lend  a  helping  hand  over  a  bad  place. 


258  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Explanations,  therefore,  on  the  teacher's  part, 
should  be  clear  and  brief,  purely  tributary  to  the 
main  effort.  In  younger  classes,  when  the  children 
have,  as  yet,  little  ability  to  use  references,  the 
teacher  may  add  much,  especially  if  it  be  concrete, 
graphic,  picturesque,  and  bearing  directly  upon  the 
subject.  But  as  children  grow  more  self-reliant 
they  can  look  up  facts  and  references,  and  bring 
more  material  themselves  to  the  elucidation  of  the 
lesson.  But  even  in  adult  classes  the  rich  experience 
of  a  trained  and  wise  teacher,  whose  illustrations  are 
apt  and  graphic  and  criticisms  incisive,  is  an  intense 
pleasure  and  stimulus  to  students. 

6.  The  major  part  of  time  and  effort  in  reading 
classes  should  be  given  to  the  reading  proper,  and 
not  to  oral  discussions,  explanations,  and  collateral 
information  and  references.  It  is  possible  to  have 
interesting  discussions  and  much  use  of  reference 
books,  and  still  make  small  progress  in  expressive 
reading.  The  main  thing  should  not  be  lost  sight 
of.  We  should  learn  to  march  steadily  forward 
through  lively  and  energetic  thought  toward  expres- 
sive reading.  There  is  no  other  right  approach  to 
good  reading  except  through  a  lively  grasp  of  the 
thought,  sentiment,  and  style  of  the  author.  But  the 
side-lights  that  come  from  collateral  reading  and 
reference  are  of  great  significance.  They  are  some- 
thing like  the  scenery  on  the  stage.  They  make 
the   effect  more   intense  and   real.     They  supply  a 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING     .  259 

background  of  environment  and  association  which 
give  the  ideas  more  local  significance  and  a  stronger 
basis  in  the  whole  complex  of  ideas. 

The  reading  or  oral  rendering  is  the  final  test  of 
understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  lesson.  The 
recitation  should  focus  in  this  applied  art.  All 
questioning  and  discussion  that  do  not  eventuate  in 
expressive  reading  ,fall  short  of  their  proper  result. 
Reading  is  a  school  exercise  in  which  the  principles 
discussed  can  be  immediately  applied,  and  this  is 
scarcely  true  in  studies  like  history,  science,  and 
mathematics.  There  are  many  hindrances  in  the 
way  of  this  fruitful  result ;  the  teacher  is  tempted  to 
talk  and  explain  too  much,  interesting  questions  and 
controversies  spring  up,  trivial  matters  receive  too 
much  consideration,  much  time  is  spent  in  the  oral 
reproduction  of  the  thought ;  often  the  time  slips  by 
with  a  minimum  of  effective  reading. 

The  questions,  discussions,  collateral  references, 
and  explanations  should  be  brought  into  immediate 
connection  with  the  children's  reading,  so  that  the 
special  thought  may  produce  its  effect  upon  expres- 
sion. This  test  of  effectiveness  is  a  good  one  to 
apply  to  explanations,  definitions,  and  questions. 
Unless  they  produce  a  pronounced  effect  upon  the 
reading,  they  are  largely  superfluous.  In  view  of 
this  the  teacher  will  learn  to  be  sparing  of  words, 
laconic  and  definite  in  statement,  pointed  and  clear 
in   questioning,  and  energetic   in   pushing  forward. 


260  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

While  interest  in  the  thought-content  is  the  impel- 
ling motive  in  good  reading  exercises,  lively  and 
natural  expression  is  likewise  the  proper  fruit  and 
outcome  of  such  a  motive  carried  to  its  proper  end. 
7.  In  order  to  keep  up  the  right  interest  and 
movement,  it  is  necessary  to  give  considerable  vari- 
ety to  the  work.  A  teacher's  good  sense  and  tact 
should  be  like  a  thermometer  which  registers  the 
mental  temperature  of  the  class.  If  kept  too  long  at 
a  single  line  of  effort,  its  monotony  induces  careless- 
ness and  inattention;  while  a  total  change  to  some 
other  order  of  exercise  would  awake  their  interest 
and  zeal.  Variety  is  needed  also  within  the  compass 
of  a  single  recitation,  because  there  are  several  pre- 
liminaries and  varieties  of  preparatory  drill  which 
conduce  to  good  rendering  of  any  selection.  Such 
are  vocal  exercises  in  consonants  and  vowels;  pro- 
nunciation and  syllabication  of  new  or  difficult 
words ;  physical  exercises  to  put  the  body  and  ner- 
vous system  into  proper  tone;  the  assignment  of  the 
next  lesson,  requiring  a  peculiar  effort  and  manner 
of  treatment;  the  report  and  discussion  of  refer- 
ences ;  concert  drills ;  the  study  of  meanings  —  syno- 
nyms and  derivations;  illustrations  and  information 
by  the  teacher ;  introduction  of  other  illustrative  mat- 
ter, as  pictures,  drawings,  maps,  and  diagrams. 
Variety  can  be  given  to  each  lesson  in  many  ways 
according  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  teacher.  If  we  are 
reading  a  number  of  short  selections,  they  themselves 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  26 1 

furnish  different  varieties  and  types  of  prose  and 
verse.  The  dramatist  or  novelist  provides  for  such 
variety  by  introducing  a  series  of  diverse  scenes,  all 
leading  forward  to  a  common  end. 

8.  Parallel  to  the  requirement  of  variety  is  the 
equally  important  demand  that  children  should  learn 
to  do  one  thing  at  a  time  and  learn  to  do  it  well. 
This  may  appear  contradictory  to  the  former  require- 
ment, but  the  skill  and  tact  of  the  teacher  is  what 
should  solve  this  seeming  contradiction.  It  is  a  fact 
that  we  try  to  do  too  many  things  in  each  reading 
lesson.  We  fail  to  pound  on  one  nail  long  enough 
to  drive  it  in.  Reading  lessons  often  resemble  a 
child  pounding  nails  into  a  board.  He  strikes  one 
nail  a  blow  or  two,  then  another,  and  so  on  until  a 
dozen  or  more  are  in  all  stages  of  incompleteness. 
We  too  often  allow  the  recitation  hour  to  end  with  a 
number  of  such  incomplete  efforts.  Good  reading  is 
not  like  moving  a  house,  when  it  is  all  carried  along 
in  one  piece.  We  reach  better  results  if  we  concen- 
trate attention  and  effort  during  a  recitation  along 
the  line  of  a  narrow  aim.  At  least  this  seems  true 
of  the  more  formal,  mechanical  side  of  reading.  It 
is  better  to  try  to  break  up  bad  habits,  one  at  a  time, 
rather  than  to  make  a  general,  indefinite  onslaught 
upon  all  together.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  the 
teacher  suggests  as  an  aim  of  the  lesson  conversa- 
tional reading,  or  that  which  sounds  like  pupils  talk- 
ing to  each  other.     Many  dialogue  selections  admit 


262  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

of  such  an  aim  as  this.  If  this  aim  is  set  up  at  the 
beginning  of  the  lesson,  the  children's  minds  will  be 
rendered  acute  in  this  direction ;  they  will  be  on  the 
alert  for  this  kind  of  game.  Each  child  who  reads 
is  scrutinized  by  teacher  and  pupils  to  see  how  near 
he  comes  to  the  ideal.  A  conscious  effort  begins  to 
dominate  the  class  to  reach  this  specific  goal.  Chil- 
dren may  close  their  eyes  and  listen  to  see  if  the 
reading  has  the  right  sound.  A  girl  or  boy  goes 
into  an  adjoining  entry  or  dressing  room  and  listens 
to  see  if  those  in  the  class  are  reading  or  talking. 
The  enthusiasm  and  class  spirit  awakened  are  very 
helpful.  Not  that  a  whole  recitation  should  be  given 
up  to  that  sort  of  thing,  but  it  is  the  characteristic 
effort  of  the  lesson.  When  the  children  practise  the 
next  lesson  at  home  they  will  have  this  point  in 
mind. 

For  several  days  this  sort  of  specific,  definite  aim 
at  a  narrow  result  may  be  followed  up  in  the  class 
till  the  children  begin  to  acquire  power  in  this  direc- 
tion. What  was,  at  first,  painfully  conscious  effort 
begins  to  assume  the  form  of  habit,  and  when  this 
result  is  achieved,  we  may  drop  this  aim  as  a  leading 
one  in  the  recitation,  and  turn  our  attention  to  some 
different  line  of  effort.  Distinct  pronunciation  of 
sounds  is  one  of  the  things  that  we  are  always  aim- 
ing at,  in  a  general  way,  and  never  getting.  Why 
not  set  this  up  in  a  series  of  recitations  as  a  definite 
aim,  and  resort  to  a  series  of  devices  to  lay  bare  the 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  263 

kind  of  faults  the  children  are  habitually  guilty  of? 
Give  them  a  chance  to  correct  these  faults,  and  awake 
the  class  spirit  in  this  direction.  It  will  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  convince  them  that  they  are  not  pronouncing 
their  final  consonants,  like  d,  t,  /,  m>  r,  and  k.  Keep 
the  attention  for  a  lesson  to  this  kind  of  error  till 
there  is  recognizable  improvement.  Then  notice 
the  short  vowel  sounds  in  the  unaccented  syllables, 
and  give  them  search-light  attention.  Notice  later 
the  syllables  that  children  commonly  slur  over. 
Mark  these  fugitives,  and  see  if  they  continue  so 
invisible  and  inaudible.  They  are  like  Jack  the 
Giant  Killer,  when  he  put  on  his  cloak  of  invisi- 
bility, or  like  Perseus  under  similar  circumstances. 
See  if  we  can  find  these  fellows  who  seem  to  mas- 
querade and  dodge  about  behind  their  companions. 
Then  some  of  the  long  vowels  and  diphthongs  will 
require  investigation.  They  are  not  all  so  open- 
faced  and  above  board  as  they  might  be.  When 
children  have  such  a  simple  and  distinct  aim  in 
view,  they  are  ready  to  work  with  a  vim  and  to 
exert  themselves  in  a  conscious  effort  at  improve- 
ment. Keep  this  aim  foremost  in  the  recitation, 
although  other  requirements  of  good  reading  are 
not  wholly  neglected. 

After  a  definite  line  of  effort  has  been  strongly 
developed  as  one  of  the  above  described,  it  is  pos- 
sible thereafter  to  keep  it  in  mind  with  slight  atten- 
tion.    But  if  no  special  drill  has  ever  been  devoted 


264  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

to  it  for  a  given  length  of  time,  it  has  not  been 
brought  so  distinctly  to  mind  as  to  produce  a  lasting 
impression  and  to  lay  the  basis  for  habit.  Besides 
the  two  aims,  clear  articulation  and  conversational 
tones,  there  are  others  that  may  be  labored  at  simi- 
larly. Appreciation  of  the  thought  as  expressed  by 
the  reading  is  a  rich  field  for  critical  study  of  a  piece, 
and  as  a  basis  for  observing  and  judging  the  chil- 
dren^ reading.  This  idea  is  well  implied  by  such 
questions  as  follow:  Is  that  what  the  passage 
means?  Have  you  given  expression  to  the  author's 
meaning  by  emphasis  on  this  word?  Does  your 
rendering  of  this  passage  make  good  sense  ?  Com- 
pare it  with  what  precedes.  How  did  the  man  feel 
when  he  said  this  ?  What  do  we  know  of  his  char- 
acter that  would  lead  us  to  expect  such  words  from 
him  ?  This  line  of  questions  has  a  wide  and  varied 
range.  The  chief  thing  is  to  scrutinize  the  thought 
in  all  the  light  attainable,  and  appeal  to  the  child's 
own  judgment  as  to  the  suitableness  of  the  tone  and 
emphasis  to  the  thought.  Does  it  sound  right  ?  Is 
that  what  the  passage  means  ? 

Each  characteristic  form  of  prose  or  verse  has  a 
peculiar  style  and  force  of  expression  that  calls  for  a 
corresponding  oral  rendering.  There  is  the  serious 
and  massive,  though  simple,  diction  of  Webster's 
speeches,  with  its  smooth  and  rounded  periods,  call- 
ing for  slow  and  steady  and  energetic  reading.  We 
should   notice   this  characteristic  of   an  author,  and 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  265 

grow  into  sympathy  with  his  feeling,  language,  and 
mental  movement.  In  Macaulay's  "  Lays  of  Ancient 
Rome,"  the  ring  of  martial  music  is  in  the  words,  and 
it  swells  out  into  rapid  and  rousing  speech  which 
should  correspond  to  the  thought.  In  "  Evangeline  " 
the  flow  of  language  is  placid  and  gentle  and  rhyth- 
mical, and  in  consonance  with  the  gentle  faith  and 
hope  of  Evangeline.  Every  true  literary  product 
has  its  own  character,  which  the  genius  of  the  author 
has  impressed  upon  its  language  and  moulded  into 
its  structure,  and  which  calls  for  a  rendering  fit  and 
appropriate.  •  Before  completing  a  selection,  we 
should  detect  this  essence  and  quality  and  bring  our 
reading  to  reveal  it.  The  places  should  be  pointed 
out  where  it  comes  into  prominence. 

When  completing  such  a  work  of  art  there  should 
be  given  opportunity  to  bring  all  the  varied  elements 
and  special  aims  discovered  and  worked  out  during 
its  reading  to  a  focus. 

In  the  final  review  and  rereading  of  a  complete 
poem  or  prose  selection  the  points  of  excellence  in 
reading  which  have  been  the  special  aims  of  effort 
in  the  studies  of  the  piece  should  be  kept  sharply  in 
mind  and  pushed  to  a  full  expression.  The  realiza- 
tion of  these  various  aims  may  be  set  before  the 
class  as  the  distinct  object  of  their  closing  work  on  a 
masterpiece.  The  failure  to  hold  vigorously  to  this 
final  achievement  is  a  clear  sign  of  intellectual  and 
moral   lassitude.      Reading,    as    noticed    before,   is 


266  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

one  of  the  few  studies  in  which  the  final  application 
of  theory  to  practice  can  be  effected,  and  children 
may  realize  that  things  are  learned  for  the  sake  of 
using  them,  and  not  simply  against  some  future  con- 
tingency. This  implies,  however,  much  resource 
and  skill  on  the  teacher's  part  in  awakening  the  chil- 
dren. The  impulses  and  aims  which  arouse  the 
children  to  strenuous  effort  should  spring  from 
within,  and  should  be  expressions  of  their  own  self- 
activity  and  volition.  There  is  much  need  of  the 
enthusiasm  and  will-energy  that  overcome  drudgery. 
Children  should  be  taught  to  be  dissatisfied  with  any- 
thing less  than  real  accomplishment. 

The  children  will  naturally  memorize  certain  pas- 
sages which  strike  their  fancy.  Other  passages 
have  been  suggested  by  the  teacher  for  different 
pupils  to  memorize.  In  one  of  the  closing  lessons 
let  the  children  recite  these  parts  before  the  class. 
If  the  teacher  has  succeeded  in  calling  out  the  live 
interest  of  the  class  during  the  previous  study,  such 
a  lesson  will  be  a  joy  to  both  pupils  and  teacher. 
One  or  two  of  the  children  may  also  volunteer  or  be 
appointed  to  make  an  oral  statement  of  the  argu- 
ment, which  will  give  freedom  to  natural  and  effec- 
tive speech.  Such  a  round-up  of  the  reading  lessons 
at  the  end  of  a  series  of  interesting  studies  is  a 
rich  experience  to  the  whole  class. 

Besides  the  important  special  aims  thus  far  sug- 
gested,   which    should    each   stand   out  clear   for   a 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  267 

series  of  lessons  until  its  value  is  realized  and  worked 
over  into  habit,  there  are  other  subordinate  aims  that 
deserve  particular  and  individual  consideration,  and 
may  now  and  then  become  the  dominant  purpose  of 
a  lesson.  Such  are  the  correction  of  singsong  read- 
ing, the  use  of  the  dictionary,  the  study  of  synonyms 
and  antitheses,  the  comparisons  and  figures  of  speech, 
exercises  in  sight  reading  of  unfamiliar  selections, 
quotations  from  selections  and  masterpieces  already 
read,  study  of  the  lives  and  works  of  authors. 

Reading  is  a  many-sided  study,  and  to  approach 
its  difficulties  with  success  we  must  take  them  up  one 
at  a  time,  conquering  them  in  detail.  Good  house- 
keepers and  cooks  are  accustomed  to  lay  out  a  series 
of  dinners  in  which  the  chief  article  of  diet  is  varied 
from  day  to  day  as  follows :  chicken  pie  with  oysters, 
veal  potpie,  stewed  fish,  broiled  beefsteak,  venison 
roast,  bean  soup  with  ham,  roast  mutton,  baked  fish, 
broiled  quail,  roast  beef,  baked  chicken  with  parsnips, 
etc.  Such  a  series  of  dinners  gives  a  healthy  variety 
and  relish.  It  is  better  for  most  people  than  the  bill 
of  fare  at  a  large  hotel,  where  there  is  so  much 
variety  and  sameness  each  day.  When  we  try  each 
day  to  do  everything  in  a  reading  lesson,  we  grasp 
more  than  our  hands  can  hold,  and  most  of  it  falls  to 
the  ground.  Children  are  pleased  and  encouraged 
by  actual  progress  in  surmounting  difficulties  when 
they  are  presented  one  at  a  time,  and  opportunity  is 
given  for  complete  mastery.     The   children   should 


268  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

labor  consciously  and  vigorously  at  one  line  of  effort, 
be  it  distinctness  or  rhythm  or  emphasis  or  conversa- 
tional tone,  till  decided  improvement  and  progress  are 
attained,  and  the  ease  of  right  habit  begins  to  show 
itself.  Then  we  can  turn  to  some  new  field,  secur- 
ing and  holding  the  vantage-ground  of  our  foregoing 
effort  by  occasional  reminders. 

9.  One  of  the  best  tests  applied  to  a  reading  class 
is  their  degree  of  class  attention.  The  steadiness 
and  responsiveness  with  which  the  whole  class  fol- 
low the  work  is  a  fair  measure  of  successful  teach- 
ing. To  have  but  one  child  read  at  a  time  while  the 
others  wait  their  turn  or  scatter  their  thoughts,  is 
very  bad.  It  is  a  good  sign  of  a  teacher's  skill  and 
efficiency  to  see  every  child  in  energetic  pursuit  of 
the  reading.  It  conduces  to  the  best  progress  in 
that  study  and  is  the  genesis  of  right  mental  habit. 

Attention  is  a  sine  qua  non  to  good  teaching,  and 
yet  it  is  a  result  rather  than  a  cause.  It  is  a  ripe 
fruit  rather  than  the  spring  promise  of  it.  The  pro- 
visions which  lead  up  to  steady  attention  are  deserv- 
ing of  a  teacher's  study  and  patient  scrutiny.  She 
may  command  attention  for  a  moment  by  sheer  force 
of  will  and  personality,  but  it  must  have  something 
to  feed  upon  the  next  moment  and  the  next,  or  it  will 
be  wandering  in  distant  fields.  So  great  and  indis- 
pensable is  the  value  of  attention,  that  some  teachers 
try  to  secure  it  at  too  heavy  a  cost.  They  command, 
threaten,    punish.       They    resort     to    severity   and 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  269 

cruelty.  But  the  more  formidable  the  teacher  be- 
comes, the  more  difficult  for  a  child  to  do  his  duty. 
Here,  again,  we  can  best  afford  to  go  back  to  the 
sources  from  which  attention  naturally  springs, 
interesting  subject  of  thought,  vivid  and  concrete 
perceptions,  lively  and  suggestive  appeal  to  the  im- 
agination, the  sphere  of  noble  thought  and  emotion, 
variety  and  movement  in  mental  effort,  a  mutual 
sympathy  and  harmony  between  teacher  and  pupil. 

It  is  indeed  well  for  the  teacher  to  gauge  his  work 
by  the  kind  and  intensity  of  attention  he  can  secure. 
If  the  class  has  dropped  into  slothful  and  habitual 
carelessness  and  inattention,  he  will  have  to  give  them 
a  few  severe  jolts;  he  must  drop  questions  where 
they  are  least  expected.  He  must  be  very  alert  to 
detect  a  listless  child  and  wake  him  into  action.  The 
vigor,  personal  will,  and  keen  watchfulness  of  the 
teacher  must  be  a  constant  resource.  On  the  other 
hand,  let  him  look  well  to  the  thought,  the  feeling, 
and  capacity  of  the  children,  and  give  them  matter 
which  is  equal  to  their  merits. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  find  the  teacher's  eye  following 
the  text  closely  instead  of  watching  the  class.  But 
the  teacher's  eye  should  be  moving  alertly  among  the 
children.  In  case  he  has  studied  the  lesson  carefully, 
the  teacher  can  detect  almost  every  mistake  without 
the  book.  In  fact,  even  if  one  has  not  recently  read 
a  selection,  he  can  usually  detect  a  verbal  error  by 
the  break  or  incoherency  of  the  thought.     Moreover, 


270  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

the  teacher  can  better  judge  the  expressiveness  of  the 
reading  by  listening  to  it  than  by  following  the  text 
with  his  eye.  Depending  wholly  upon  the  ear,  any 
defect  of  utterance  or  ineptness  of  expression  is 
quickly  detected.  Even  the  children  at  times  should 
be  asked  to  close  their  books  and  to  listen  closely  to 
the  reading.  This  emphasizes  the  notion  that  good 
reading  is  the  oral  expression  of  thought,  so  that 
those  who  listen  can  understand  and  enjoy  it. 

The  treadmill  style  of  reading,  which  repeats  and 
repeats,  doing  the  same  things  day  by  day,  going 
through  the  like  round  of  mechanical  motions,  should 
give  way  to  a  rational,  spirited,  variegated  method 
which  arouses  interest  and  variety  of  thought,  and 
moves  ever  toward  a  conscious  goal. 

10.  In  studying  the  masterpieces  of  great  writers, 
a  question  arises  how  to  treat  the  moral  situations  in- 
volved in  the  stories.  In  their  revolt  against  exces- 
sive moralizing  with  children,  some  critics  object  to 
any  direct  teaching  of  moral  ideas  in  connection  with 
literature,  being  opposed  to  explicit  discussions  of 
moral  notions. 

All  will  admit  that  literature,  dealing  as  it  does 
with  human  life,  is  surcharged  with  practical  moral- 
ity, with  social  conduct.  It  is  also  the  motive  of  great 
writers,  while  dealing  honestly  with  human  nature,  to 
idealize  and  beautify  their  representations  of  men. 
Nor  is  it  their  purpose  to  make  unworthy  characters 
pleasing  and  attractive  models. 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  2J\ 

It  is  expected,  of  course,  that  children  will  get 
clear  notions  and  opinions  of  such  persons  as  Miles 
Standish  and  John  Alden,  of  Whittier's  father  and 
mother  and  others  in  the  fireside  circle  of  "  Snow- 
Bound,"  of  Antonio  and  Shylock  in  the  "  Merchant  of 
Venice,"  of  Cinderella  and  her  sisters  in  the  story,  of 
Wallace  and  Bruce  in  Scott's  "  Tales,"  of  Gluck  and 
his  brothers  in  Ruskin's  story,  of  Scrooge  in  the 
"  Christmas  Carol,"  of  Evangeline,  Enoch  Arden,  etc. 

But  boys  and  girls  are  not  infallible  judges  of 
character.  They  are  apt  to  form  erroneous  or  one- 
sided judgments  from  lack  of  insight  into  the  author's 
meaning,  or  from  carelessness.  There  is  the  same 
possibility  of  error  in  forming  moral  judgments  as 
in  forming  judgments  in  other  phases  of  an  author's 
thought. 

It  is  the  province  of  the  teacher  to  stimulate  the 
children  to  think,  and,  by  his  superior  experience  and 
judgment,  to  guide  them  into  correct  thinking.  It 
is  not  the  function  of  the  teacher  to  impose  his  ready- 
made  judgments  upon  children,  either  in  morals  or 
in  anything  else.  But  it  is  his  concern,  by  questions, 
suggestions,  and  criticisms,  to  aid  in  clarifying  the 
thought,  to  put  the  children  upon  the  right  track. 
There  is  no  reason  why  a  teacher  should  abdicate  his 
place  of  instructor  because  he  chances  to  come  be- 
fore moral  problems.  Literature  is  full  of  moral 
situations,  moral  problems,  and  moral  evolutions  in 
character,  and  even  of  moral  ideals.     Is  the  teacher 


272  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

to  stand  dumb  before  these  things  as  if  he  had  lost 
his  wits  ?  Or  is  he  to  consider  it  the  greatest  oppor- 
tunity of  his  life  to  prudently  guide  young  people 
to  the  correct  perception  of  what  is  beautiful  and 
true  in  human  life  ?  Why,  indeed,  should  he  sup- 
press his  own  enthusiasm  for  these  ideals?  Why 
should  not  his  personality  be  free  to  express  itself 
in  matters  of  moral  concern,  as  well  as  in  intellectual 
and  aesthetic  judgments?  So  long  as  the  teacher 
throws  the  pupils  back  upon  their  own  self-activity 
and  thinking  power,  there  need  be  no  danger  of 
moral  pedantry  or  of  moral  dyspepsia. 

It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  the  teacher  should 
use  freedom  and  boldness  in  discussing  with  the 
children  candidly  and  thoughtfully  the  characters 
presented  in  good  literature.  Let  the  situations  be 
made  clear  so  that  correct  judgments  of  single  acts 
can  be  formed.  Let  the  weaknesses  and  virtues  of 
the  persons  be  noted.  Let  motives  be  studied  and 
characteristic  tendencies  traced  out.  In  this  way 
children  may  gradually  increase  their  insight  and 
enlarge  the  range  of  their  knowledge  of  social  life. 
If  these  things  are  not  legitimate,  why  should  such 
materials  be  presented  to  children  at  all  ?  We  need 
not  make  premature  moralists  of  children,  or  teach 
them  to  pass  easy  or  flippant  moral  judgments  upon 
others.  But  we  wish  their  interest  in  these  charac- 
ters to  be  deep  and  genuine,  their  eyes  wide  open 
to  the  truths  of  life,  and  their  intuitive  moral  judg- 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  273 

ments  to  ripen  in  a  healthy  and  hearty  social  environ- 
ment. To  this  end  the  teacher  will  need  to  use  all 
his  skill  in  questioning,  in  suggestion,  in  frank  and 
candid  discussion.  In  short,  he  needs  just  those 
qualities  which  a  first-class  teacher  needs  in  any 
field  of  study. 

We  have  gotten  out  of  the  mode  of  tacking  a 
moral  to  a  story.  Ostensibly  moral  stories,  over- 
weighted with  a  moral  purpose,  do  not  please  us. 
We  wish  novelists  and  dramatists  to  give  us  the 
truth  of  life,  and  leave  us  to  pass  judgment  upon 
the  characters.  Our  best  literature  presents  great 
variety  of  scenes  and  characterizations  in  their 
natural  setting  in  life.  They  specially  cultivate 
moral  judgment  and  insight.  One  of  the  ultimate 
standards  which  we  apply  to  all  novels  and  dramas 
is  that  of  their  fundamental  moral  truth.  Schlegel, 
in  his  "Dramatic  Art  and  Literature,"  in  his  criti- 
cisms of  great  writers,  discusses  again  and  again 
the  moral  import  of  the  characters,  and  even  the 
moral  purpose  of  Shakespeare  and  the  dramatists. 
In  fact,  these  moral  considerations  lie  deep  and  fun- 
damental in  judging  the  great  works  of  literary  art. 
The  masterpieces  we  use  in  the  schools  bear  the 
same  relation  to  the  children  that  the  more  difficult 
works  bear  to  adults. 

The  clear  discussion  of  the  moral  element  in  litera- 
ture seems,  therefore,  natural  and  legitimate,  while 
its  neglect  and  obscuration  would  be  a  fatal  defect. 


274  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

ii.  There  are  two  kinds  of  reading  which  should 
be  cultivated  in  reading  lessons,  although  they  seem 
to  fall  a  little  apart  from  the  main  highway  of  effort. 
They  are,  first,  sight  reading  of  supplementary  matter 
for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  a  quick  and  accurate 
grasp  of  new  thought  and  forms.  When  we  leave 
school,  one  of  the  values  of  reading  will  be  the  power 
it  gives  to  interpret  quickly  and  grasp  firmly  the 
ideas  as  they  present  themselves  in  the  magazines, 
papers,  and  books  we  read.  Good  efforts  in  school 
reading  will  lead  forward  gradually  to  that  readiness 
of  thought  and  fluency  of  perception  which  will  give 
freedom  and  mastery  of  new  reading  matter.  To 
develop  this  ability  and  to  regulate  it  into  habit,  we 
must  give  children  a  chance  to  read  quite  a  little 
at  sight.  We  need  supplementary  readers  in  sets 
which  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  children  for  this 
purpose.  The  same  books  will  answer  for  several 
classes,  and  may  be  passed  from  room  to  room  of 
similar  grade. 

The  reading  matter  we  select  for  this  purpose 
may  be  classic,  and  of  the  best  quality,  just  as  well 
as  to  be  limited  to  information  and  geographical 
readers  which  are  much  inferior.  There  are  first- 
class  books  of  literary  merit,  which  are  entirely  ser- 
viceable for  this  purpose  and  much  richer  in  culture. 
They  continue  the  line  of  study  in  classic  literature, 
and  give  ground  for  suggestive  comparisons  and 
reviews  which  should  not  be  neglected.     There   is 


CLASS-ROOM    METHOD    IN    READING  275 

strong  tendency  in  our  time  to  put  inferior  reading 
matter,  in  the  form  of  information  readers,  science 
primers,  short  history  stories,  geographical  readers, 
newspapers,  and  specially  prepared  topics  on  current 
events,  into  reading  classes.  These  things  may  do 
well  enough  in  their  proper  place  in  geography,  his- 
tory, natural  science,  or  general  lessons,  but  they 
should  appear  scarcely  at  all  in  reading  lessons. 
Preserve  the  reading  hour  for  that  which  is  choicest 
in  our  prose  and  verse,  mainly  in  the  form  of  shorter 
or  longer  masterpieces  of  literature. 

Secondly,  many  books  should  be  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  children  which  they  may  read  outside 
of  school.  The  regular  reading  exercises  should  give 
the  children  a  lively  and  attractive  introduction  to  some 
of  the  best  authors,  and  a  taste  for  the  strength  and 
beauty  of  their  productions.  But  the  field  of  litera- 
ture is  so  wide  and  varied  that  many  things  can  only 
be  suggested,  which  will  remain  for  the  future  leisure 
and  choice  of  readers.  Children  might,  however, 
be  made  acquainted  with  some  of  the  best  books 
suited  to  their  age  for  which  there  is  not  school  time. 
Many  of  the  best  books,  like  "Ivanhoe,"  "Quentin 
Durward,"  "  Captains  Courageous,"  "  Swiss  Family 
Robinson/'  and  "Nicholas  Nickleby,"  cannot  be  read 
in  school.  They  should  be  in  the  school  library,  and 
the  teacher  should  often  refer  to  them  and  to  others 
suggested  by  the  regular  reading,  which  give  deeper 
and  wider  views  into  life. 


276  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

12.  In  the  use  of  the  symbols  and  language 
forms  of  reading,  the  children  should  be  led  on  to 
freedom  and  self-activity.  How  to  get  the  mastery 
of  these  forms  in  the  early  reading  work  is  dis- 
cussed at  some  length  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  this 
book. 

In  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  of  school,  children 
should  learn  to  use  the  dictionary.  It  is  a  great 
means  of  self-help  when  they  have  learned  to  inter- 
pret the  dictionary  easily.  But  special  lessons  are 
necessary  to  teach  children :  first,  how  to  find  words 
in  the  dictionary ;  second,  how  to  interpret  the 
diacritical  markings  so  as  to  get  a  correct  pronuncia- 
tion; and  third,  how  to  discriminate  among  definitions. 
Adults  and  even  teachers  are  often  deficient  in  these 
particulars,  and  children  will  not  form  habits  of  using 
the  dictionary  with  quick  and  easy  confidence  with- 
out continuous,  attentive  care  on  the  teacher's  part. 
The  best  outcome  of  such  training  is  the  conscious 
power  of  the  child  to  help  himself,  and  there  is 
nothing  in  school  work  more  deserving  of  encourage- 
ment. 

The  system  of  diacritical  markings  used  in  the 
dictionary  should  be  put  on  the  blackboard,  varied 
illustrations  of  the  markings  given,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  these  markings  to  new  words  in  the  dictionary 
discovered.  Lack  of  success  in  this  work  is  chiefly 
due  to  a  failure  to  pursue  this  plan  steadily  till  ease 
and  mastery  are  gained  and  habits  formed. 


SUMMARY   OF    SIGNIFICANT    POINTS    IN    READING     277 

In  the  later  grades  these  habits  of  self-help  should 
be  kept  up  and  extended  further  to  the  study  of 
synonyms,  root  words  and  their  kindred,  homonyms, 
prefixes  and  suffixes,  and  the  derived  meanings  of 
words. 

SUMMARY    OF    SIGNIFICANT   POINTS    IN   READING 

1.  The  teacher's  effort  is  first  directed  to  a  vivid 
interpretation  of  the  author's  thought  and  feeling, 
and  later  to  an  expressive  rendering  of  the  thought. 

2.  Every  exertion  should  be  made  to  lead  the 
children  to  an  absorbed  and  interested  attention  in 
the  selections. 

3.  The  author's  leading  motive  in  the  whole  se- 
lection should  be  firmly  grasped  by  the  teacher.  By 
centring  all  discussion  toward  this  motive,  unneces- 
sary digressions  will  be  avoided. 

4.  The  teacher  will  hardly  teach  well  unless  he 
has  saturated  himself  with  the  spirit  of  the  selection, 
and  enjoys  it.  To  this  end  he  needs  not  only  to 
study  the  selection,  but  also  the  historical,  geographi- 
cal, biographical,  and  other,  side-lights. 

5.  The  teacher  needs  great  freedom  and  versa- 
tility in  the  use  of  his  materials.  Warmth,  anima- 
tion, and  freedom  of  manner  are  necessary. 

6.  Children  often  do  not  know  how  to  study  a 
reading  lesson.  In  the  assignment  and  in  the  way  of 
handling  the  lesson  they  should  be  taught  how  to  get 
at  it,  how  to  understand  and  enjoy  it. 


278  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

7.  In  the  assignment  of  the  lesson  the  thought 
of  the  piece  should  be  opened  up  in  an  interesting 
way,  and  such  difficulties  as  children  are  not  likely  to 
grapple  with  and  master  for  themselves  pointed  out 
and  approached.  Difficult  words  need  to  be  pro- 
nounced and  hard  passages  explained. 

8.  The  assignment  should  be  unmistakably  clear 
and  definite,  so  as  to  insure  a  good  seat  study. 

9.  The  seat  study  should  be  chiefly  on  parts 
already  discussed  in  class. 

10.  During  the  recitation  proper,  strong  class  at- 
tention by  all  the  members  of  the  class  is  a  first 
necessity.  Much  knowledge,  alertness,  and  skill  are 
necessary  to  secure  this.  One  must  keep  all  the 
members  of  the  class  in  the  eye  constantly,  and 
distribute  the  questions  and  work  among  them 
promptly  and  judiciously,  so  as  to  secure  con- 
centrated effort. 

11.  The  teacher  can  often  judge  a  recitation  better 
without  looking  at  the  book  while  the  class  is  read- 
ing. 

12.  Skill  in  questioning  is  very  useful  in  reading 

lessons. 

(a)  Questions  to   arouse  the   thought  should 

appeal  to  the  experience  of  children. 

(b)  Questions  to  bring   out   the   meaning   of 

words  or  passages,  or  to  expose  errors  or 
to  develop  thought,  should  be  clear  and 
specific,  not  long  and  ambiguous. 


SUMMARY   OF    SIGNIFICANT    POINTS    IN    READING     279 

13.  Let  the  teacher  be  satisfied  with  reasonable 
answers,  and  not  insist  on  the  precise  verbal  form 
present  to  his  own  mind. 

14.  The  teacher  needs  to  awaken  strongly  the 
imagination  in  picturing  scenes,  in  interpreting 
poetic  images  and  figures,  and  in  impersonating 
characters.  The  picture-forming  power  is  stimulated 
by  apt  questions,  by  suggestion  of  the  teacher,  by 
interpretation,  by  appeal  to  experience,  by  dramatic 
action. 

15.  The  use  of  the  dialogue  and  dramatic  repre- 
sentation is  among  the  best  means  of  awakening 
interest  and  producing  freedom  and  self-forgetful- 
ness. 

16.  The  pupil  should  give  his  own  interpretation, 
subject  to  correction,  and  interpret  parts  in  relation 
to  the  whole. 

17.  Without  too  much  loss  of  time  children  should 
learn  to  help  themselves  in  overcoming  difficulties 
in  solving  problems. 

18.  Sometimes  it  is  well  for  children  to  come  pre- 
pared to  ask  definite  questions  on  parts  they  do  not 
understand. 

19.  The  tendency  to  more  independent  and  mature 
thinking  is  encouraged  by  comparing  similar  ideas, 
figures  of  speech,  and  language  in  different  poems 
and  from  different  authors. 

20.  There  should  be  much  effective  reading  and 
not  much  mere  oral  reproduction.     The  paraphrase 


280  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

may  be  used  at  times  to  give  the  pupil  a  larger  view 
of  the  content  of  the  piece. 

21.  Let  the  pupil  reading  feel  responsible  for  giv- 
ing to  the  class  the  content  of  the  printed  page. 
Often  it  is  best  to  face  the  class. 

22.  The  teacher  should  occasionally  read  a  pas- 
sage in  the  best  style  for  the  pupils,  not  for  direct 
imitation,  but  to  suggest  the  higher  ideals  and  spirit 
of  good  reading.     A  high  standard  is  thus  set  up. 

23.  Children  should  be  encouraged  to  learn  by 
heart  the  passages  they  like.  In  the  midst  of  the 
recitation  it  is  well  occasionally  to  memorize  a  pas- 
sage. 

24.  The  teacher  must  drill  himself  in  clear-cut 
enunciation  of  short  vowels,  final  consonants,  and 
pure  vowel  sounds.  Cultivate  also  a  quick  ear  for 
accurate  enunciation  in  the  pupils  and  for  pleasing 
tones.  Frequent  drill  exercise,  singly  and  in  con- 
cert, is  necessary. 

25.  Use  ingenuity  by  indirect  methods  to  over- 
come nasality,  stuttering,  nervously  rapid  reading, 
slovenly  and  careless  expression,  monotone,  and  sing- 
song. 

26.  By  means  of  physical  training,  deep  breathing, 
vigorous  thought  work,  encourage  to  self-reliant 
manner  and  good  physical  position. 

27.  Give  variety  to  each  lesson ;  avoid  monotony 
and  humdrum. 

28.  Each    lesson    should  emphasize  a  particular 


SUMMARY   OF   SIGNIFICANT   POINTS   IN   READING    28 1 

aim,  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  selection  or  by 
the  previous  bad  habits  and  faults  of  the  children 
in  reading.  It  is  impossible  to  give  proper  emphasis 
to  all  things  in  each  lesson,  and  indefiniteness  and 
monotony  are  the  result. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Illustrative  Lessons  in  Reading 

"hiawatha" 

The  "  Hiawatha  "  is  sometimes  read  in  the  regular 
reading  work  of  fourth  or  fifth  grades. 

The  pictures  in  Houghton,  Mifflin's  edition  of  the 
"  Hiawatha  "  are  one  means  of  producing  the  proper 
environment  of  the  poem.  The  suggestions  for 
dramatizing  parts  of  the  poem  and  of  working  up 
the  proper  costume  for  representing  the  characters  of 
the  story  may  be  carried  out  in  any  school. 

That  the  story  begins  with  the  early  childhood  of 
Hiawatha  and  describes  his  early  home  and  training 
at  the  feet  of  Nokomis  is  at  least  one  point  in  its 
favor. 

"  By  the  shores  of  Gitchee  Gumee, 
By  the  shining  Big-Sea-Water, 
Stood  the  wigwam  of  Nokomis, 
Daughter  of  the  Moon,  Nokomis. 
Dark  behind  it  rose  the  forest, 
Rose  the  black  and  gloomy  pine-trees, 
Rose  the  firs  with  cones  upon  them ; 
Bright  before  it  beat  the  water, 
Beat  the  clear  and  sunny  water, 
Beat  the  shining  Big-Sea- Water. 
282 


ILLUSTRATIVE   LESSONS    IN    READING  283 

There  the  wrinkled  old  Nokomis 

Nursed  the  little  Hiawatha, 

Rocked  him  in  his  linden  cradle, 

Bedded  soft  in  moss  and  rushes, 

Safely  bound  with  reindeer  sinews ; 

Stilled  his  fretful  wail  by  saying, 

1  Hush !  the  Naked  Bear  will  hear  thee  !  * 

Lulled  him  into  slumber,  singing, 

'  Ewa-yea  !  my  little  owlet ! 

Who  is  this  that  lights  the  wigwam  ? 

With  his  great  eyes  lights  the  wigwam? 

Ewa-yea !  my  little  owlet! ' " 

Where  have  you  seen  a  lake  shore  bordered  with 
pine  or  other  forest  ? 

Show  pictures  of  Indian  wigwam.  Collect  views 
of  northern  lakes  and  Indians  in  their  dress.  What 
do  we  call  the  Big-Sea- Water  in  our  geography? 
Refer  to  map.  How  were  the  reindeer  sinews  used  ? 
Why  not  use  cords  or  twine?  Would  you  enjoy 
living  in  a  wigwam  summer  and  winter  ?  Explain 
how  the  cradle  was  shaped  and  made  comfortable. 
Repeat  some  of  the  cradle  songs  we  sing  in  putting 
the  baby  to  sleep. 

"  Then  the  little  Hiawatha 
Learned  of  every  bird  its  language, 
Learned  their  names  and  all  their  secrets, 
How  they  built  their  nests  in  Summer, 
Where  they  hid  themselves  in  Winter, 
Talked  with  them  whene'er  he  met  them, 
Called  them  i  Hiawatha's  Chickens.' " 

What  birds  do  you  know  by  their  song  or  twitter  ? 
Do  the  birds  have  secrets  ?      Describe  the  nest  the 


284  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN    READING 

robin  builds  ;  the  sparrow  ;  the  woodpecker.      Do  you 
ever  feed  the  wild  birds  ? 

The  authors  motive  is  explained  in  the  following 
passage.  Most  of  us  have  been  accustomed  to  look 
upon  the  Indians  as  savage  and  brutal.  How  does 
Longfellow  feel  toward  them  ?  What  have  you 
heard  of  William  Penn  and  his  treatment  of  the 
Indians  ? 

"  Ye  who  love  a  nation's  legends, 
Love  the  ballads  of  a  people, 
That  like  voices  from  afar  off 
Call  to  us  to  pause  and  listen, 
Speak  in  tones  so  plain  and  childlike, 
Scarcely  can  the  ear  distinguish 
Whether  they  are  sung  or  spoken ;  — 
Listen  to  this  Indian  Legend, 
To  this  song  of  Hiawatha  ! 
Ye  whose  hearts  are  fresh  and  simple, 
Who  have  faith  in  God  and  Nature, 
Who  believe,  that  in  all  ages 
Every  human  heart  is  human, 
That  in  even  savage  bosoms 
There  are  longings,  yearnings,  strivings 
For  the  good  they  comprehend  not, 
That  the  feeble  hands  and  helpless, 
Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness, 
Touch  God's  right  hand  in  that  darkness, 
And  are  lifted  up  and  strengthened ;  — 
Listen  to  this  simple  story, 
To  this  Song  of  Hiawatha!  " 

Where  did  Longfellow  get  these  early  Indian 
legends  ?     What  legends  and  ballads  are  you  familiar 


ILLUSTRATIVE   LESSONS    IN   READING  285 

with  from  the  early  English?  from  the  Greeks?  The 
Indians  worshipped  the  Great  Spirit  and  called  their 
future  beyond  death  the  Happy  Hunting  Grounds. 

In  the  following  passage  Longfellow  gives  an  ex- 
planation where  these  stories  of  Hiawatha  came  from. 

Locate  the  lakes  and  forests  and  prairies  that  are 
referred  to.  Where  do  we  find  moors  and  f enlands  ? 
What  other  tribes  are  we  familiar  with  besides  the 
O  jib  ways  and  Dakotahs  ? 

u  Should  you  ask  me,  whence  these  stories, 
Whence  these  legends  and  traditions, 
With  the  odors  of  the  forest, 
With  the  dew  and  damp  of  meadows, 
With  the  curling  smoke  of  wigwams, 
With  the  rushing  of  great  rivers, 
With  their  frequent  repetitions, 
And  their  wild  reverberations, 
As  of  thunder  in  the  mountains  ? 
I  should  answer,  I  should  tell  you, 

*  From  the  forests  and  the  prairies, 
From  the  great  lakes  of  the  Northland, 
From  the  land  of  the  Ojibways, 
From  the  land  of  the  Dacotahs, 
From  the  mountains,  moors,  and  fenlands, 
Where  the  heron,  the  Shuh-shuh-gah, 
Feeds  among  the  reeds  and  rushes.' 

"  Should  you  ask  where  Nawadaha 
Found  these  songs,  so  wild  and  wayward, 
Found  these  legends  and  traditions, 
I  should  answer,  I  should  tell  you, 

'  In  the  birds'-nests  of  the  forest, 
In  the  lodges  of  the  beaver, 
In  the  hoof-prints  of  the  bison, 


286  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

In  the  eyry  of  the  eagle ! 

All  the  wild-fowl  sang  them  to  him, 
In  the  moorlands  and  the  fenlands, 
In  the  melancholy  marshes  ; 
Chetowaik,  the  plover,  sang  them, 
Mahng,  the  loon,  the  wild-goose,  Wawa, 
The  blue  heron,  the  Shuh-shuh-gah, 
And  the  grouse,  the  Mushkodasa!  ■ " 

The  Indians  lived  in  the  midst  of  wild  nature,  in 
woods  and  on  the  banks  of  lakes  and  streams.  In 
hunting,  of  course,  they  were  very  familiar  with  all 
wild  animals,  birds,  and  fruits. 

Some  of  the  Indian  tribes  were  named  for  wild 
animals,  as  the  Foxes.  Can  you  name  others?  The 
favorite  sign  or  totem  of  a  tribe  was  the  bear,  or 
wolf,  or  crow.  How  do  the  beavers  and  muskrats 
build  their  lodges  ?  How  many  of  the  animals  and 
birds  mentioned  have  you  seen?  Where  may  they  be 
found  and  seen  nowadays  ? 

"  snow-bound  " 

It  is  primarily  a  picture  of  family  life  in  a  Quaker 
home  of  New  England.  Whittier  loved  to  reflect  on 
the  home  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  this  poem 
gives  us  the  deeper  sympathies  of  his  heart  and 
makes  beautiful  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  fireside. 

Let  boys  and  girls  enjoy  and  appreciate  these 
pictures  and  the  kindly  affections  of  a  good  home, 
and  they  will  naturally  set  up  higher  ideals. 


ILLUSTRATIVE    LESSONS    IN   READING  287 

In  reading  successive  poems  and  prose  selections 
from  different  authors,  strong  resemblances  in  thought 
or  language  are  frequently  detected.  It  is  a  thought- 
provoking  process  to  bring  such  similar  passages  to 
a  definite  comparison.  Even  where  the  same  topic 
is  treated  differently  by  two  authors,  the  different 
or  contrasted  points  of  view  are  suggestive.  Calling 
such  familiar  passages  to  mind  is  in  itself  a  good 
practice,  and  it  is  well  to  cultivate  this  mode  of 
turning  previous  knowledge  into  use. 

To  illustrate  this  point,  let  us  call  to  mind  some 
familiar  passages,  touching  the  winter  snow-storm 
and  the  fireside  comforts,  from  Whittier,  Emerson, 
and  Lowell. 

Whittier's  description  of  a  snow-storm  in  "  Snow- 
Bound'  '  is  well  known:  — 

u  Unwarmed  by  any  sunset  light 
The  gray  day  darkened  into  night, 
A  night  made  hoary  with  the  swarm 
And  whirl-dance  of  the  blinding  storm, 
As  zigzag  wavering  to  and  fro 
Crossed  and  recrossed  the  winged  snow : 
And  ere  the  early  bedtime  came 
The  white  drift  piled  the  window-frame, 
And  through  the  glass  the  clothes-line  posts 
Looked  in  like  tall  and  sheeted  ghosts." 

Notice  and  explain  the  striking  descriptive  ad- 
jectives in  this  passage  as  hoary,  zigzag,  winged, 
sheeted. 


288  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

u  So  all  night  long  the  storm  roared  on : 
The  morning  broke  without  a  sun  ; 
In  tiny  spherule  traced  with  lines 
Of  Nature's  geometric  signs, 
In  starry  flake  and  pellicle 
All  day  the  hoary  meteor  fell; 
And,  when  the  second  morning  shone, 
We  looked  upon  a  world  unknown, 
On  nothing  we  could  call  our  own." 

How  long  had  the  storm  lasted  ? 

"  Around  the  glistening  wonder  bent 
The  blue  walls  of  the  firmament, 
No  cloud  above,  no  earth  below,  — 
A  universe  of  sky  and  snow ! 
The  old  familiar  sights  of  ours 
Took  marvellous  shapes ;  strange  domes  and  towers 
Rose  up  where  sty  or  corn-crib  stood, 
Or  garden-wall,  or  belt  of  wood ; 
A  smooth  white  mound  the  brush-pile  showed, 
A  fenceless  drift  what  once  was  road." 


Name   other  changes  wrought  by  the  snow  not 
mentioned  by  Whittier. 

"  The  bridle-post  an  old  man  sat 
With  loose-flung  coat  and  high  cocked  hat ; 
The  well-curb  had  a  Chinese  roof; 
And  even  the  long  sweep,  high  aloof, 
In  its  slant  splendor,  seemed  to  tell 
Of  Pisa's  leaning  miracle." 

Explain  the  old-fashioned  well-sweep. 


ILLUSTRATIVE    LESSONS    IN    READING  289 

Again  the  fireside  joy  is  expressed :  — 

11  Shut  in  from  all  the  world  without, 
We  sat  the  clean-winged  hearth  about, 
Content  to  let  the  north-wind  roar 
In  baffled  rage  at  pane  and  door, 
While  the  red  logs  before  us  beat 
The  frost-line  back  with  tropic  heat ; 
And  ever,  when  a  louder  blast 
Shook  beam  and  rafter  as  it  passed, 
The  merrier  up  its  roaring  draught 
The  great  throat  of  the  chimney  laughed, 
The  house-dog  on  his  paws  outspread 
Laid  to  the  fire  his  drowsy  head, 
The  cat's  dark  silhouette  on  the  wall 
A  couchant  tiger's  seemed  to  fall ; 
And,  for  the  winter  fireside  meet, 
Between  the  andirons'  straddling  feet, 
The  mug  of  cider  simmered  slow, 
The  apples  sputtered  in  a  row, 
And,  close  at  hand,  the  basket  stood 
With  nuts  from  brown  October's  wood." 

What  kind  of  house  did  the  Whittier  family  live 
in  ?     What  were  the  chief  rooms,  and  how  furnished  ? 

Show  the  descriptive  aptness  of  these  words,  clean- 
winged,  baffled,  tropic,  roaring,  couchant. 

"  What  matter  how  the  night  behaved  ? 
What  matter  how  the  north-wind  raved  ? 
Blow  high,  blow  low,  not  all  its  snow 
Could  quench  our  hearth -fire's  ruddy  glow." 

If  these  passages  and  others  in  "Snow-Bound" 
are  familiar  to  the  children  in  previous  study,  the 
reading  of  Emerson's  "The  Snow-Storm,"  might  set 


29O  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

them  to   recalling  a  whole  series  of   pictures  from 
Whittier:  — 

"  Announced  by  all  the  trumpets  of  the  sky, 
Arrives  the  snow,  and,  driving  o'er  the  fields, 
Seems  nowhere  to  alight :  the  whited  air 
Hides  hills  and  woods,  the  river,  and  the  heaven, 
And  veils  the  farm-house  at  the  garden's  end. 
The  sled  and  traveller  stopped,  the  courier's  feet 
Delayed,  all  friends  shut  out,  the  housemates  sit 
Around  the  radiant  fireplace,  enclosed 
In  a  tumultuous  privacy  of  storm." 

The  word  whited  corresponds  with  what  word  in 
Whittier  ? 

Radiant  suggests  what  word  in  Whittier  ? 

"  Come  see  the  north  wind's  masonry. 
Out  of  an  unseen  quarry  evermore, 
Furnished  with  tile,  the  fierce  artificer 
Curves  his  white  bastions  with  projected  roof 
Round  every  windward  stake,  or  tree,  or  door. 
Speeding,  the  myriad-handed,  his  wild  work 
So  fanciful,  so  savage,  nought  cares  he 
For  number  or  proportion.     Mockingly, 
On  coop  or  kennel  he  hangs  Parian  wreaths ; 
A  swan-like  form  invests  the  hidden  thorn ; 
Fills  up  the  farmer's  lane  from  wall  to  wall, 
Maugre  the  farmer's  sighs ;  and  at  the  gate 
A  tapering  turret  overtops  the  work. 
And  when  his  hours  are  numbered,  and  the  world 
Is  all  his  own,  retiring,  as  he  were  not, 
Leaves,  when  the  sun  appears,  astonished  Art 
To  mimic  in  slow  structures,  stone  by  stone, 
Built  in  an  age,  the  mad  wind's  night-work, 
The  frolic  architecture  of  the  snow." 


ILLUSTRATIVE    LESSONS   IN    READING  29 1 


The  architecture  of  the  snow  can  be  compared 
point  by  point  in  both  authors,  in  the  objects  about 
the  farm-house,  while  the  picture  of  the  snug  com- 
forts of  the  fireplace  is  in  both. 

Of  a  somewhat  different,  yet  closely  related,  char- 
acter is  the  description  in  the  Prelude  to  Part  Sec- 
ond, in  the  "  Vision  of  Sir  Launf  al "  :  - — 

"  Down  swept  the  chill  wind  from  the  mountain  peak, 
From  the  snow  five  thousand  summers  old ; 
On  open  wold  and  hill-top  bleak 
It  had  gathered  all  the  cold, 
And  whirled  it  like  sleet  on  the  wanderer's  cheek ; 
It  carried  a  shiver  everywhere 
From  the  unleafed  boughs  and  pastures  bare ; 
The  little  brook  heard  it  and  built  a  roof 
'Neath  which  he  could  house  him,  winter-proof; 
All  night  by  the  white  stars'  frosty  gleams 
He  groined  his  arches  and  matched  his  beams ; 
Slender  and  clear  were  his  crystal  spars 
As  the  lashes  of  light  that  trim  the  stars ; 
He  sculptured  every  summer  delight 
In  his  halls  and  chambers  out  of  sight ; 
Sometimes  his  tinkling  waters  slipt 
Down  through  a  frost-leaved  forest-crypt, 
Long,  sparkling  aisles  of  steel-stemmed  trees 
Bending  to  counterfeit  a  breeze ; 
Sometimes  the  roof  no  fretwork  knew 
But  silvery  mosses  that  downward  grew ; 
Sometimes  it  was  carved  in  sharp  relief 
With  quaint  arabesques  of  ice-fern  leaf; 
Sometimes  it  was  simply  smooth  and  clear 
For  the  gladness  of  heaven  to  shine  through,  and  here 
He  had  caught  the  nodding  bulrush-tops 
And  hung  them  thickly  with  diamond  drops, 


292  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Which  crystalled  the  beams  of  moon  and  sun, 

And  made  a  star  of  every  one : 

No  mortal  builder's  most  rare  device 

Could  match  this  winter-palace  of  ice ; 

'Twas  as  if  every  image  that  mirrored  lay 

In  his  depths  serene  through  the  summer  day, 

Each  flitting  shadow  of  earth  and  sky, 

Lest  the  happy  model  should  be  lost, 
Had  been  mimicked  in  fairy  masonry 

By  the  elfin  builders  of  the  frost. 

"  Within  the  hall  are  the  song  and  laughter, 

The  cheeks  of  Christmas  glow  red  and  jolly, 
And  sprouting  is  every  corbel  and  rafter 

With  the  lightsome  green  of  ivy  and  holly ; 
Through  the  deep  gulf  of  the  chimney  wide 
Wallows  the  Yule-log's  roaring  tide ; 
The  broad  flame-pennons  droop  and  flap 

And  belly  and  tug  as  a  flag  in  the  wind ; 
Like  a  locust  shrills  the  imprisoned  sap, 

Hunted  to  death  in  its  galleries  blind ; 
And  swift  little  troops  of  silent  sparks, 

Now  pausing,  now  scattering  away  as  in  fear, 
Go  threading  the  soot-forest's  tangled  darks 

Like  herds  of  startled  deer." 

The  elfin  builders  of  the  frost  have  raised  even 
more  delicate  structures  than  the  snow.  The  descrip- 
tive power  of  the  poets  in  picturing  nature's  handi- 
work cannot  be  better  seen  than  in  these  passages. 
It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  suggest  the  points  of 
resemblance  which  children  will  quickly  detect  in 
these  passages,  as  the  comparison  of  — 

"  Through  the  deep  gulf  of  the  chimney  wide 
Wallows  the  Yule-log's  roaring  tide," 


ILLUSTRATIVE   LESSONS   IN   READING  293 

with  this,  — 

"  The  merrier  up  its  roaring  draught 
The  great  throat  of  the  chimney  laughed." 

Such  passages,  suggesting  like  thoughts  in  earlier 
studies,  are  very  frequent  and  spring  up  in  unex- 
pected quarters. 

For  example,  Emerson,  in  "  Waldeinsamkeit," 
says :  — 

"  I  do  not  count  the  hours  I  spend 
In  wandering  by  the  sea ; 
The  forest  is  my  loyal  friend, 
Like  God  it  useth  me." 

Again,  in  the  "  Apology,"  he  says  :  — 

u  Think  me  not  unkind  and  rude 

That  I  walk  alone  in  grove  and  glen ; 
I  go  to  the  god  of  the  wood 
To  fetch  his  word  to  men." 

And  Lowell,  in  *  The  Bobolink  "  :  — 

"  As  long,  long  years  ago  I  wandered, 
I  seem  to  wander  even  yet. 
The  hours  the  idle  schoolboy  squandered, 
The  man  would  die  ere  he'd  forget. 

0  hours  that  frosty  eld  deemed  wasted, 
Nodding  his  gray  head  toward  my  books, 

1  dearer  prize  the  lore  I  tasted 

With  you,  among  the  trees  and  brooks, 
Than  all  that  I  have  gained  since  then 
From  learned  books  or  study-withered  men." 


294  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

And  Whittier  says  :  — 

"  Our  uncle,  innocent  of  books, 
Was  rich  in  lore  of  fields  and  brooks, 
The  ancient  teachers  never  dumb 
Of  Nature's  unhoused  lyceum." 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  recall  other  passages 
from  Bryant,  Shakespeare,  Byron,  and  many  others, 
expressing  this  love  of  solitude  in  woods  or  on  the 
seashore,  and  the  wisdom  to  be  gained  from  such 
communion  with  nature.  This  active  retrospect  to 
gather  up  kindred  thoughts  out  of  previous  studies 
and  mingle  them  with  the  newer  influx  of  radiant 
ideas  from  master  minds  is  a  fruitful  mode  of  assim- 
ilating and  compounding  knowledge.  It  may  be 
advisable  at  times  for  the  teacher  to  bring  together 
a  few  additional  passages  from  still  wider  sources, 
expressive  of  a  thought  kindred  to  that  worked  out 
in  the  class.  Such  study  leads  to  a  self-reliant,  en- 
thusiastic companionship  with  the  thoughts  of  great 
men,  and  is  most  profitable. 

"  ODYSSEY  " 

The  "  Odyssey  "  is  as  well  known  as  any  master- 
piece in  the  world's  literature.  For  illustration,  we 
will  enter  upon  a  brief  discussion  of  the  mode  of 
handling  it  as  a  unit  in  the  school. 

There  are    abundant    sources    in    English    from 


ILLUSTRATIVE   LESSONS   IN    READING  295 

which  the  teacher  can  get  an  adequate  knowledge 
of  this  great  poem  without  using  the  original  Greek. 
A  few  of  the  leading  books  are  as  follows :  "  The 
Story  of  Ulysses  "  (Cook).  A  very  simple,  abbre- 
viated narrative  of  Ulysses*  wanderings  sometimes 
used  as  a  reading-book  in  fourth  or  fifth  grade.  (Pub- 
lic School  Publishing  Co.)  —  "  Lamb's  Adventures  of 
Ulysses."  A  pleasing  prose  rendering  of  the  chief 
incidents  of  the  story,  more  difficult  than  the  preced- 
ing. Sometimes  used  as  a  reader.  (Ginn  &  Co.)  — 
"  Church's  Stories  of  the  Old  World,"  in  which  "  The 
Adventures  of  Ulysses  "  forms  a  chapter.  A  good 
short  treatment  of  the  story  in  simple  language. 
(Ginn  &  Co.)  —  "Ulysses  among  the  Phaeacians,"  con- 
sisting of  selections  from  five  books  of  the  " Odyssey" 
as  translated  into  verse  by  Bryant.  This  seems  well 
adapted  for  use  as  a  reading-book  in  fourth  or  fifth 
grade,  and  will  be  discussed  more  fully  as  such. 
(Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.)  — "The  Odyssey  of 
Homer,"  by  Palmer,  is  an  excellent  prose-poetic 
rendering  of  the  whole  poem,  and  is  of  great  service 
to  the  teacher.  (Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.) — An- 
other excellent  prose  translation,  by  Butcher  and 
Lang,  has  been  much  used.  (The  Macmillan  Co.) 
—  Bryant's  "  Homer's  *  Odyssey,'  "  a  complete  poetic 
rendering  of  the  whole  twenty-four  books  of  the 
poem,  is  probably  the  best  basis  for  school  refer- 
ence  and  study  of  the  poem.  —  "  National  Epics,"  by 
Rabb,  has  a  good  narrative  and  introduction  for  the 


296  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

"  Odyssey/'  and  a  list  of  critical  references.  (A.  C. 
McClurg  &  Co.)  —  "  Art  and  Humanity  in  Homer," 
by  Lawton,  has  an  interesting  discussion  of  the 
"Odyssey.0  Other  famous  translations  of  the  whole 
"Odyssey,"  were  made  by  Alexander  Pope,  William 
Cowper,  George  Chapman,  and  others. 

It  is  not  unusual  in  schools  for  teachers  to  give 
children  of  the  third  or  fourth  grade  an  oral  introduc- 
tion to  the  whole  story  in  a  series  of  lessons.  This 
requires  skill  in  presenting  and  discussing  the  epi- 
sodes, and  should  be  attended  by  good  oral  repro- 
ductions by  the  children.  Such  oral  work  should  be 
done  in  distinct  lessons  apart  from  the  regular  read- 
ing. Later,  in  fourth  or  fifth  grade,  the  story  is 
sometimes  read  in  class  from  one  of  the  simple  prose 
narratives  of  Miss  Cook,  or  Lamb,  or  Church.  In 
the  fifth  or  sixth  grade,  "  Ulysses  among  the  Phaea- 
cians  "  forms  an  interesting  reading-book,  with  which 
to  acquaint  the  children  more  fully  with  the  poetic 
beauty  and  descriptive  detail  of  the  original,  so  far 
as  it  can  be  secured  in  English.  In  connection  with 
such  reading  it  may  be  interesting  to  choose  from 
Bryant's  complete  translation  other  selected  parts  of 
the  story,  and  encourage  the  children  to  read  them, 
if  books  from  the  library  or  homes  can  be  provided. 

We  may  dwell  for  a  moment  upon  those  qualities  of 
Homer's  story  which  have  commanded  the  admira- 
tion of  the  great  poets  in  different  ages  and  countries. 
The  peculiar  poetic  charm  and  power  of  the  original 


ILLUSTRATIVE    LESSONS   IN    READING  297 

Greek  are  probably  untranslatable,  although  several 
eminent  poets  have  attempted  it.  But  we  have  at 
least  both  prose  and  verse  renderings  of  it  that  are 
beautiful  and  poetic. 

Some  of  the  critics  have  said  that  the  whole 
poem  is  a  unit  in  thought,  —  much  more  so  than  the 
"  Iliad,"  —  centring  in  the  person  of  Ulysses.  His 
wanderings  and  his  final  return  constitute  the  thread 
of  the  narrative.  In  the  main  it  is  a  story  of  peace, 
with  descriptions  of  cities,  islands,  palaces,  strange 
lands,  and  peaceful  arts  and  manners.  After  their 
return  from  Troy  we  meet  Nestor  and  Menelaus, 
dwelling  happily  in  their  palaces  and  surrounded 
with  home  comforts.  Ulysses,  himself,  the  great 
sufferer,  is  tossed  about  the  world,  or  held  captive 
on  sea-girt,  far-away  islands.  He  passes  through  a 
series  of  wonderful  adventures,  keeping  his  alertness 
and  balance  of  mind  so  completely  that  his  name  has 
become  a  synonym  in  all  lands  for  shrewdness  and 
far-seeing  wisdom.  And  it  is  not  only  a  wise  percep- 
tion, but  a  self-control  in  the  midst  of  old  and  new 
temptations  which  is  most  remarkable.  This  over- 
mastering shrewdness  or  calculation  even  overdoes 
itself  and  becomes  amusing,  when  he  tries,  for 
example,  to  deceive  his  guardian  goddess  as  to  whom 
he  is.  The  descriptions  of  women  and  of  domestic 
life  are  famous  and  delightful.  The  constancy  of 
Penelope,  her  industry  and  shrewdness  in  outwitting 
the  suitors,  have  given  her  a  supreme  place  among 


298  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

the  women  of  story.  The  descriptions  of  peaceful 
manners  and  customs,  of  public  games,  of  feasting 
and  music,  of  palace  halls  and  ornament,  are  among 
the  great  literary  pictures  of  the  world. 

The  particular  adventures  through  which  Ulysses 
passed  with  Circe,  with  the  Sirens,  with  Polyphemus, 
with  Eolus,  with  the  lotus-eaters,  and  others,  are 
plainly  suggestive  of  the  dangers  which  threaten  the 
thoughtless  minded,  those  who  plunge  headlong  into 
danger  without  forethought.  Ulysses  is  slow  to  give 
way  to  folly  or  passion,  is  bold  and  skilful  in  danger, 
and  persevering  to  the  last  extreme. 

In  the  treatment  of  the  "Odyssey,"  the  teacher 
will  need  a  general  knowledge  of  Greek  mythology, 
which  can  be  easily  derived  from  "Greek  Gods, 
Heroes,  and  Men  "  (Scott,  Foresman,  &  Co.),  and 
from  several  other  of  the  reference  books.  Some 
study  of  Greek  architecture,  sculpture,  and  modes  of 
life  will  be  instructive  and  helpful,  as  given  in  Smith's 
"  History  of  Greece  "  and  other  histories.  Pictures  of 
Greek  temples  and  ruins,  sculpture,  and  palaces  will 
be  pleasing  and  attractive  to  children.  (See  Liibke's 
"  History  of  Art,"  Vol.  I,  Dodd,  Mead,  &  Co.)  Some 
of  the  children's  books  also  contain  good  pictures. 

A  good  map,  indicating  the  supposed  wanderings 
of  Ulysses  in  the  Mediterranean,  is  given  in  several 
of  the  books,  e.g.  in  Palmer's  "  Odyssey,"  and  fixes 
many  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  the  story. 
The  teacher  should  not  overlook  the  geography  of 


ILLUSTRATIVE    LESSONS    IN    READING  299 

the  story  and  its  relation  to  this  and  later  studies  in 
history,  literature,  and  geography. 

In  using  "Ulysses  among  the  Phaeacians"  as  a 
reader  in  fourth  or  fifth  grade,  the  first  unit  of  study 
is  the  voyage  of  Ulysses  on  his  raft,  from  the  time 
of  leaving  Calypso  till  he  is  wrecked  by  the  storm 
and  driven  upon  the  island  of  Scheria,  the  home  of 
the  Phaeacians.  We  will  suggest  a  few  points  in 
the  treatment.  The  supposed  places  and  the  route 
of  the  voyage  can  be  traced  on  the  map.  Let  the 
teacher  sk*etch  it  on  the  board  in  assigning  the  lesson. 
Suggest  that  the  children  locate  in  the  sky  the  stars 
and  constellations  by  which  Ulysses  is  to  direct  his 
course.  The  story  of  the  construction  of  the  raft  on 
which  Ulysses  is  to  make  this  journey,  just  preceding 
this  part  of  the  story,  could  be  read  to  the  class  by 
the  teacher,  as  it  is  not  contained  in  these  extracts. 
In  length  of  time  how  does  this  voyage  compare 
with  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  to-day  ?  Why  is  it 
said,  in  line  329,  that  the  Great  Bear  "  alone  dips  not 
into  the  waters  of  the  deep"? 

From  previous  studies,  the  children  may  be  able 
to  tell  of  Ulysses'  stay  upon  the  island  with  Calypso. 
What  may  the  children  know  of  Neptune  ?  Why  is 
he  angered  with  Ulysses?  A  picture  of  Neptune 
with  the  trident  is  in  place.  Explain  the  expression 
"  while  from  above  the  night  fell  suddenly."  Was 
Ulysses  justified  in  saying,  "  Now  must  I  die  a  miser- 
able death"?     In  spite   of   the  desperate  storm,  in 


300  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

what  ways  does  Ulysses  struggle  to  save  his  life? 
How  do  the  gods  assist  him?  In  what  way  does 
this  experience  of  Ulysses  remind  us  of  Robinson 
Crusoe's  shipwreck  and  escape? 

With  how  many  men  had  Ulysses  started  on  his 
way  to  Troy?  Now  he  alone  escapes  after  great 
suffering  and  hopeless  bufferings.  In  what  way 
during  this  voyage  and  shipwreck  did  Ulysses  display 
his  accustomed  shrewdness  and  foresight?  After 
landing,  what  dangers  did  he  still  fear? 

The  nearly  three  hundred  lines  of  Book  V,  which 
give  this  account  of  Ulysses'  voyage  and  shipwreck, 
will  require  several  lessons,  and  the  above  questions 
are  but  a  few  of  those  raised  in  its  reading  and  dis- 
cussion. When  Neptune,  Ulysses,  or  Ino  speaks,  let 
the  speaker  be  impersonated  so  as  to  give  greater 
force  and  reality.  In  the  next  book  (VI),  there  is 
more  of  dialogue  and  better  opportunity  for  variety 
of  manner  and  voice. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enter  into  further  detail 
suggesting  questions.  But  we  may  believe  that  a 
spirited  treatment  of  this  part  of  the  story  of  Ulysses 
in  reading  lessons,  including  his  stay  and  treatment 
among  the  Phaeacians,  will  give  the  children  much 
appreciation  of  the  beauty  and  power  of  this  old 
story.  By  means  of  occasional  readings  of  other 
selected  parts  of  the  "  Odyssey,"  from  Bryant  or 
Palmer,  some  of  the  most  striking  pictures  in  the 
story  of    his  wanderings   can  be  presented.     Even 


ILLUSTRATIVE    LESSONS   IN   READING  301 

the  children  may  find  time  for  some  of  this  addi- 
tional, outside  reading.  In  any  event  the  story  of 
Ulysses,  as  a  piece  of  great  literature,  can  thus  be 
brought  home  to  the  understandings  and  hearts  of 
children,  and  will  constitute  henceforward  a  part 
of  that  rich  furniture  of  the  mind  which  we  call 
culture. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
The  Value  of  Classics  to  the  Teacher 

In  discussing  the  value  and  fruitfulness  of  this 
field  of  study  to  children,  it  is  impossible  to  forbear 
the  suggestion  of  its  scope  and  significance  for 
teachers.  If  the  masters  of  song  and  expression 
are  able  to  work  so  strongly  upon  the  immature 
minds  of  children,  how  much  deeper  the  influence 
upon  the  mature  and  thoughtful  minds  of  teachable 
teachers !  They  above  all  others  should  have  dis- 
positions receptive  of  the  best  educational  influences. 
The  duties  and  experiences  of  their  daily  work  pre- 
dispose them  toward  an  earnest  and  teachable  spirit. 
In  very  many  cases,  therefore,  their  minds  are  wide 
open  to  the  reception  of  the  best.  And  how  deep 
and  wide  and  many-sided  is  this  enfranchisement  of 
the  soul  through  literature ! 

It  is  a  gateway  to  history ;  not,  however,  that  cast- 
away shell  which  our  text-books,  in  the  form  of  a  dull 
recital  of  facts,  call  history;  but  its  heart  and  soul, 
the  living,  breathing  men  and  women,  the  source 
and  incentive  of  great  movements  and  struggles 
toward  the  light.  Literature  does  not  make  the 
study  of   history  superfluous,  but  it  puts  a  purpose 

302 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  303 

into  history  which  lies  deeper  than  the  facts,  it  sifts 
out  the  wheat  from  the  chaff,  casts  aside  the  super- 
ficial and  accidental,  and  gets  down  into  the  deep 
current  of  events  where  living  causes  are  at  work. 

The  "  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,"  for  example, 
is  deeper  and  stronger  than  history  because  it  ideal- 
izes the  stern  and  rigid  qualities  of  the  Puritan,  while 
John  Alden  and  Priscilla  touch  a  deeper  universal 
sympathy,  and  body  forth  in  forms  of  beauty  that 
pulsing  human  love  which  antedates  the  Puritan  and 
underlies  all  forms  of  religion  and  society. 

Illustrative  cases  have  been  given  in  sufficient 
abundance  to  show  that  literature,  among  other 
things,  has  a  strong  political  side.  It  grasps  with 
a  master  hand  those  questions  which  involve  true 
patriotism.  It  exalts  them  into  ideals,  and  fires  the 
hearts  of  the  people  to  devotion  and  sacrifice  for 
their  fulfilment. 

Burke's  "  Oration  on  the  American  War"  is,  to  one 
who  has  studied  American  history,  an  astonishing 
confirmation  of  how  righteous  and  far-sighted  were 
the  principles  for  which  Samuel  Adams  and  the 
other  patriots  struggled  at  the  opening  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Webster's  speech  at  Bunker  Hill  is  a  graphic 
and  fervent  retrospect  on  the  past  of  a  great  struggle, 
and  a  prophetic  view  of  the  swelling  tide  of  indi- 
vidual, social,  and  national  well-being. 

If  the  teacher  is  to  interpret  history  to  school 
children,  he  must  learn  to  grasp  what  is  essential 


304  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

and  vital;  he  must  be  able  to  discriminate  between 
those  events  which  are  trivial  and  those  of  lasting 
concern.  The  study  of  our  best  American  literature 
will  reveal  to  him  this  distinction,  and  make  him  a 
keen  and  comprehensive  critic  of  political  affairs. 

Barnett,  in  his  "  Common  Sense  in  Education  and 
Teaching  "  (p.  170),  says :  — 

"In  the  second  place,  literature  provides  us  with 
historical  landmarks.  We  cannot  be  said  to  under- 
stand the  general %  history '  of  a  particular  time  unless 
we  know  something  of  the  thought  that  stirred  its 
most  subtle  thinkers,  and  interpreted  and  made  articu- 
late the  spirit  of  the  times  in  which  they  lived.  The 
most  notable  facts  in  the  history  of  the  times  of 
Edward  III,  of  Elizabeth,  and  of  Victoria  are  that 
Chaucer  and  Shakespeare  and  Tennyson  and  their 
contemporaries  lived  and  wrote.  Political  history, 
social  history,  economic  history,  even  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, are  all  reflected,  illustrated,  and  interpreted  by 
what  we  find  in  the  great  works  of  contemporary 
literature." 

Charles  Kingsley,  in  his  "  Literary  and  General 
Essays "  (p.  249),  holds  a  like  opinion :  — 

"  I  said  that  the  ages  of  history  were  analogous  to 
the  ages  of  man,  and  that  each  age  of  literature  was 
the  truest  picture  of  the  history  of  its  day,  and  for 
this  very  reason  English  literature  is  the  best,  per- 
haps the  only,  teacher  of  English  history,  to  women 
especially.    For  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  principally  by 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  305 

the  help  of  such  an  extended  literary  course  that  we 
can  cultivate  a  just  and  enlarged  taste  which  will  con- 
nect education  with  the  deepest  feelings  of  the  heart." 
Literature  is  also  a  mirror  that  reflects  many  sides 
of  social  life  and  usage.  There  is  no  part  of  a 
teacher's  education  that  is  so  vital  to  his  practical 
success  as  social  culture.  John  Locke's  "Thoughts 
on  Education  "  are,  in  the  main,  an  inquiry  into  the 
methods  and  means  by  which  an  English  gentleman 
can  be  formed.  The  aim  of  the  tutor  who  has  this 
difficult  task  is  not  chiefly  to  give  learning,  to  fill  the 
mind  with  information,  to  develop  mentality,  but  to 
train  the  practical  judgment  in  harmony  with  gentle- 
manly conduct.  The  tutor,  himself  a  scholar,  is  to 
know  the  world,  its  ins  and  outs,  its  varieties  of  social 
distinction  and  usage,  its  snares  and  pitfalls,  its  wise 
men  and  fools.  The  child  is  to  learn  to  look  the 
world  in  the  face  and  understand  it,  to  know  himself 
and  to  be  master  of  himself  and  of  his  conduct,  to 
appreciate  other  people  in  their  moods  and  characters, 
and  to  adapt  himself  prudently  and  with  tact  to  the 
practical  needs.  The  gentleman  whom  Locke  sets 
up  as  his  ideal  is  not  a  fashion-plate  figure,  not  a 
drawing-room  gallant,  but  a  clear-headed  man  who 
understands  other  people  and  himself,  and  has  been 
led  by  insensible  degrees  to  so  shape  his  habitual 
conduct  as  most  wisely  to  answer  his  needs  in  the 
real  world.  Emerson,  with  all  his  lofty  idealism  and 
unconventionalism,  has  an  ideal  of  education  nearly 


306  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

akin  to  that  of  Locke.  This  social  ideal  of  Locke 
and  Emerson  is  one  that  American  teachers  can  well 
afford  to  ponder.  As  a  nation,  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  think  that  a  certain  amount  of  roughness 
and  boorishness  was  necessary  as  a  veil  to  cover  the 
strongest  manly  qualities.  Smoothness  and  tact  and 
polish,  however  successful  they  may  be  in  real  life, 
are,  theoretically  at  least,  at  a  discount.  The  Adamses, 
Jefferson,  Jackson,  Lincoln,  Thoreau,  were  men  who 
did  violence  in  a  good  many  ways  to  social  usages, 
and  we  may  admire  their  faults  overmuch. 

To  the  teacher  who  stands  in  the  presence  of  thirty 
or  fifty  distinct  species  of  incipient  men  and  women, 
social  insight  and  culture,  the  ability  to  appreciate 
each  in  his  individual  traits,  his  strength  or  weakness, 
are  a  prime  essential  to  good  educative  work. 

Now,  there  are  two  avenues  through  which  social 
culture  is  attainable,  —  contact  with  men  and  women 
in  the  social  environment  which  envelops  us  all,  and 
literature.  Literature  is,  first  of  all,  a  hundred-sided 
revelation  of  human  conduct  as  springing  from  motive. 
Irving,  Hawthorne,  Longfellow,  Holmes,  and  Lowell 
are  revealers  of  humanity.  Still  more  so  are  Dickens 
and  Eliot  and  Shakespeare  and  Goethe.  To  study 
these  authors  is  not  simply  to  enjoy  the  graphic 
power  of  an  artist,  but  to  look  into  the  lives  of  so 
many  varieties  of  men  and  women.  They  lay  bare 
the  heart  and  its  inward  promptings.  Our  apprecia- 
tion for  many  forms  of  life  under  widely  differing 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  307 

conditions  is  awakened.  We  come  in  touch  with 
those  typical  varieties  of  men  and  women  whom  we 
shall  daily  meet  if  we  will  but  notice.  It  broadens 
one's  perceptions  and  sympathies,  it  reveals  the 
many-sidedness  of  human  life.  It  suggests  to  a 
teacher  that  the  forty  varieties  of  humanity  in  her 
schoolroom  are  not  after  one  pattern,  nor  to  be 
manipulated  according  to  a  single  device. 

The  social  life  that  surrounds  each  one  of  us  is 
small  and  limited.  Our  intimate  companionships  are 
few,  and  we  can  see  deeply  into  the  inner  life  of  but 
a  small  portion  even  of  those  about  us.  The  deeper 
life  of  thought  and  feeling  is  largely  covered  up  with 
conventionalities  and  externalities.  But  in  the  works 
of  the  best  novelists,  dramatists,  and  poets,  we  may 
look  abroad  into  the  whole  world  of  time  and  place, 
upon  an  infinite  variety  of  social  conditions,  and  we 
are  permitted  to  see  directly  into  the  inner  thought 
and  motive,  the  very  soul  of  the  actors.  Yet  fidelity 
to  human  nature  and  real  life  is  claimed  to  be  the 
peculiar  merit  of  these  great  writers.  By  the  com- 
mon consent  of  critics,  Shakespeare  is  the  prince  of 
character  delineators.     Schlegel  says  of  him  :  — 

"  Shakespeare's  knowledge  of  mankind  has  become 
proverbial ;  in  this  his  superiority  is  so  great  that  he 
has  justly  been  called  the  master  of  the  human  heart. 
A  readiness  to  remark  the  mind's  fainter  and  invol- 
untary utterances,  and  the  power  to  express  with  cer- 
tainty the  meaning  of  these  signs,  as  determined  by 


308  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

experience  and  reflection,  constitute  *  the  observer  of 
men/" 

"  After  all,  a  man  acts  so  because  he  is  so.  And 
what  each  man  is,  that  Shakespeare  reveals  to  us 
most  immediately ;  he  demands  and  obtains  our  be- 
lief, even  for  what  is  singular  and  deviates  from  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature.  Never  perhaps  was  there 
so  comprehensive  a  talent  for  characterization  as 
Shakespeare.  It  not  only  grasps  every  diversity  of 
rank,  age,  and  sex,  down  to  the  lispings  of  infancy ; 
not  only  do  the  king  and  the  beggar,  the  hero  and 
the  pickpocket,  the  sage  and  the  idiot,  speak  and  act 
with  equal  truthfulness ;  not  only  does  he  transport 
himself  to  distant  ages  and  foreign  nations,  and  por- 
tray with  the  greatest  accuracy  (a  few  apparent  vio- 
lations of  costume  excepted)  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
Romans,  of  the  French  in  the  wars  with  the  English, 
of  the  English  themselves  during  a  great  part  of  their 
history,  of  the  Southern  Europeans  (in  the  serious 
part  of  many  comedies),  the  cultivated  society  of  the 
day,  and  the  rude  barbarism  of  a  Norman  foretime ; 
his  human  characters  have  not  only  such  depth  and 
individuality  that  they  do  not  admit  of  being  classed 
under  common  names,  and  are  inexhaustible  even  in 
conception,  —  no,  this  Prometheus  not  merely  forms 
men,  he  opens  the  gates  of  the  magical  world  of 
spirits." 

What  is  true  of  Shakespeare  in  a  preeminent 
degree  is  true  to  a  marked  extent  of  all  the  great 
novelists  and  poets. 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  309 

The  teacher  needs  to  possess  great  versatility  and 
tact  in  social  situations.  A  quick  insight,  social 
ease,  freedom,  and  self-possession  are  of  the  first 
importance  to  him.  The  power  of  sympathy,  of 
appreciation  for  others'  feelings  and  difficulties,  is 
wholly  dependent  upon  such  social  cultivation. 
Otherwise  the  teacher  will  be  rude,  even  uncouth 
and  boorish  in  manner,  producing  friction  and  ill- 
will  where  tact  and  gentleness  would  bring  sympathy 
and  confidence.  Many  people  absorb  this  refine- 
ment of  thought  and  manner  from  the  social  circles 
with  which  they  mingle,  and  it  is,  of  course,  a  smil- 
ing fortune  that  has  placed  a  teacher's  early  life  in 
a  happy  and  cultured  atmosphere,  where  the  social 
sympathies  and  graces  are  absorbed  almost  uncon- 
sciously. But  even  where  the  earlier  conditions 
have  been  less  favorable,  the  opportunity  for  rapid 
social  development  and  culture  is  most  promising. 
The  numberless  cases  in  our  country  in  which  young 
people,  by  the  strength  of  their  energetic  purpose 
and  desire  for  improvement,  have  raised  themselves 
not  only  to  superior  knowledge  and  scholarship,  but 
also  to  that  far  greater  refinement  of  social  life  and 
manner  which  we  call  true  culture,  —  the  numberless 
instances  of  this  sort  are  a  surprising  indication  of 
the  power  of  education.  Literature  has  been  a 
potent  agent  in  this  direction.  It  emancipates,  it 
sets  free,  the  spirit  of  man.  It  lifts  him  above  what 
is   sordid  and  material,  and   gives    him   those  true 


3IO  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

standards  of  worth  with  which  to  measure  all  things. 
It  contains  within  itself  the  refining  elements,  the 
aesthetic  and  ethical  ideals,  and,  best  of  all,  it  por- 
trays human  life  in  all  its  thought,  feeling,  and 
passion  with  such  intensity  and  realistic  fidelity  that 
its  teaching  power  is  unparalleled. 

This  potentiality  of  the  better  literature  to  produce 
such  noble  results  in  the  higher  range  of  culture  is 
dependent  upon  conditions.  No  one  will  understand 
literature  who  does  not  study  and  understand  ordi- 
nary life  as  it  surrounds  him ;  who  does  not  con- 
stantly draw  upon  his  own  experience  in  interpreting 
the  characters  portrayed  in  books.  No  stupid  or 
unobservant  person  will  be  made  wise  through  books, 
be  they  never  so  choice.  Even  the  student  who 
works  laboriously  at  his  text-books,  but  has  no  eye 
nor  care  for  the  people  or  doings  about  him,  is  get- 
ting only  the  mechanical  side  of  education,  and  is 
losing  the  better  part.  He  who  will  draw  riches  out 
of  books  must  put  his  intellect  and  sympathy,  his 
whole  enthusiastic  better  self,  into  them. 

The  indwelling  virtue  of  great  books  is  that  they 
demand  this  intense  awakening,  this  complete  absorp- 
tion of  the  whole  self.  The  mind  of  a  child  and  of 
a  man  or  woman  has  to  stretch  itself  to  the  utmost 
limit  to  take  in  the  message  of  a  great  writer.  One 
feels  the  old  barriers  giving  way  and  the  mind  ex- 
panding to  the  conception  of  larger  things.  Speak- 
ing of  the  ancient  drama  at  Athens,   Shelley  says, 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  3II 

"The  imagination  is  enlarged  by  a  sympathy  with 
pains  and  passions  so  mighty  that  they  distend  in 
their  conception  the  capacity  of  that  by  which  they 
are  conceived." 

Those  who  have  received  into  the  inner  self  the 
expansive  energy  of  noble  thought  and  social  culture, 
are  the  better  qualified,  from  the  rich  variety  of  the 
inner  life,  to  act  effectively  upon  the  complex  con- 
ditions and  forces  of  the  outer  world.  The  teacher 
whose  inner  life  is  teeming  with  these  rich  sympa- 
thies and  potent  ideals  will  react  with  greater  pru- 
dence and  tact  upon  the  kaleidoscopic  conditions  of 
a  school. 

Practical  social  life  and  literature  are  not  distinct 
modes  of  culture.  They  are  one,  they  interact  upon 
each  other  in  scores  of  ways.  Give  a  teacher  social 
opportunities,  give  him  the  best  of  our  literature,  let 
these  two  work  their  full  influence  upon  him,  —  then, 
if  he  cannot  become  a  teacher,  it  is  a  hopeless  case. 
Let  him  go  to  the  shop,  to  the  farm,  to  the  legisla- 
ture ;  there  is  no  place  for  him  in  the  schoolroom. 

Literature  is  also  a  sharp  and  caustic  critic  of  his 
own  follies  or  foibles,  to  one  who  can  reflect.  It  has 
a  multitude  of  surprises  by  which  we  are  able,  as 
Burns  wished, — 

"  To  see  oursels  as  ithers  see  us." 

Even  the  schoolmaster  finds  an  occasional  apt  de- 
scription of   himself   in  literature  which  it  is  often 


312  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

interesting  and  entertaining  for  him  to  ponder.  One 
of  the  most  familiar  is  that  of  Goldsmith  in  "The 
Deserted  Village  n .:  — 

"  Beside  yon  straggling  fence  that  skirts  the  way 
With  blossom'd  furze  unprofitably  gay, 
There,  in  his  noisy  mansion,  skill'd  to  rule, 
The  village  master  taught  his  little  school. 
A  man  severe  he  was,  and  stern  to  view ; 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew : 
Well  had  the  boding  tremblers  leaned  to  trace 
The  day's  disasters  in  his  morning  face ; 
Full  well  they  laugh'd,  with  counterfeited  glee, 
At  all  his  jokes,  for  many  a  joke  had  he ; 
Full  well  the  busy  whisper,  circling  round, 
Convey'd  the  dismal  tidings  when  he  frown'd. 
Yet  he  was  kind,  or,  if  severe  in  aught, 
The  love  he  bore  to  learning  was  in  fault. 
The  village  all  declar'd  how  much  he  knew ; 
'Twas  certain  he  could  write,  and  cipher  too ; 
Lands  he  could  measure,  terms  and  tides  presage, 
And  even  the  story  ran  that  he  could  gauge ; 
In  arguing,  too,  the  parson  own'd  his  skill, 
For  even  though  vanquish'd  he  could  argue  still; 
While  words  of  learned  length  and  thundering  sound 
Amaz'd  the  gazing  rustics  rang'd  around ; 
And  still  they  gaz'd,  and  still  the  wonder  grew 
That  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew." 

A  like  entertainment  and  suggestion  of  what  the 
schoolmaster  may  be,  as  seen  by  others,  are  fur- 
nished by  Irving's  Ichabod  Crane.  William  Shen- 
stone's  description  of  the  schoolmistress  and  the 
school  near  two  hundred  years  ago  in  his  native 
village,  is  very  diverting.     Charles  Dickens's  descrip- 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  313 

tion  of  schools  and  schoolmasters  is  important  in 
the  history  of  England,  and,  like  his  portrayals 
of  child  life  generally,  of  deep  pedagogical  worth 
to  teachers. 

In  his  book,  "The  Schoolmaster  in  Literature/* 
Mr.  Skinner  has  done  a  real  service  to  the  teaching 
world  in  bringing  together,  into  a  convenient  com- 
pilation from  many  sources,  the  literature  bearing 
directly  upon  the  schoolmaster.  Even  the  comic 
representations  and  caricatures  are  valuable  in  call- 
ing attention  to  common  foibles  and  mannerisms,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  more  serious  faults  of  teachers. 

It  is  in  literature,  also,  and  in  those  lives  and 
scenes  from  history  which  literary  artists  have 
worked  up,  that  the  teacher  can  best  develop  his 
own  moral  ideals  and  strengthen  the  groundwork  of 
his  own  moral  character.  The  stream  will  not  rise 
above  its  source,  and  a  teachers  moral  influence  in 
a  school  will  not  reach  above  the  inspirations  from 
high  sources  which  he  himself  has  felt.  Those 
teachers  who  have  devoted  themselves  solely  to  the 
mastery  of  the  texts  they  teach,  who  have  read  little 
from  our  best  writers,  are,  drawing  upon  a  slender 
capital  of  moral  resource.  Not  even  if  home  influ- , 
ences  have  laid  a  sound  basis  of  moral  habits  are 
these  sufficient  reserves  for  the  exigencies  of  teach- 
ing. The  moral  nature  of  the  teacher  needs  con- 
stant stimulus  to  upward  growing,  and  the  children 
need  examples,  ideal  illustrations,  life  and  blood  im- 


314  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

personations  of  the  virtues ;  and  literature  is  the  chief 
and  only  safe  reservoir  from  which  to  draw  them. 

We  have  already  discussed  the  moral  value  of  the 
right  books  for  children.  The  lessons  of  the  great 
works  are  so  profound  in  this  respect  that  they  offer 
a  still  wider  range  of  study  to  the  teacher.  Even 
the  foremost  thinkers  and  philosophers  have  found 
therein  an  inexhaustible  source  of  truth  and  wisdom. 

In  the  Foreword  to  his  "  Great  Books  as  Life 
Teachers,"  Newell  Dwight  Hillis  says,  "  For  some 
reason  our  generation  has  closed  its  text-books  on 
ethics  and  morals,  and  opened  the  great  poems, 
essays,  and  novels.' '  This  is  a  remarkable  statement 
and  is  the  key-note  to  a  silent  but  sweeping  change 
in  education.  He  adds,  "  Doubtless  for  thoughtful 
persons  this  fact  argues,  not  a  decline  of  interest  in 
the  fundamental  principles  of  right  living,  but  a 
desire  to  study  these  principles  as  they  are  made 
flesh  and  embodied  in  living  persons.' '  Again,  "  It 
seems  important  to  remember  that  the  great  novel- 
ists are  consciously  or  unconsciously  teachers  of 
morals,  while  the  most  fascinating  essays  and  poems 
are  essentially  books  of  aspiration  and  spiritual 
culture.' ' 

It  is  suggestive  to  note  that  this  fundamental  text 
is  worked  out  in  his  book  by  chapters  on  Ruskin's 
"Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,"  George  Eliot's 
"  Romola,"  Hawthorne's  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  Victor 
Hugo's   "  Les   Miserables,"   Tennyson's   "  Idylls  of 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  315 

the  King/'  and  Browning's  "Saul."  This  suggests 
a  fruitful  line  of  studies  for  every  teacher. 

Among  modern  essayists,  Emerson,  Carlyle,  Rus- 
kin,  and  Matthew  Arnold  stand  preeminent,  and  they 
are  already  well  established  among  the  mightiest 
teachers  of  our  age,  and  it  may  be,  of  many  to 
come.  Sure  it  is  that  teachers  could  not  do  better 
than  put  themselves  within  earshot  of  these  reso- 
nant voices.  Their  heart-strings  will  vibrate  and 
their  intellects  will  be  stretched  to  a  full  tension, 
not  simply  by  the  music,  but  by  the  truth  which 
surges  up  and  bursts  into  utterance.  It  is  scarcely 
a  figure  of  speech  to  say  that  the  lightning  flashes 
across  their  pages.  The  stinging  rebuke  of  wrong, 
the  noble  ideals  of  righteousness,  place  them  among 
the  prophets  whose  tongues  have  been  touched  with 
fire  from  the  altar. 

Besides  the  historical,  social,  and  moral  tuition  for 
teachers  in  literature,  there  are  several  other  impor- 
tant culture  effects  in  it.  The  deepest  religious  in- 
centives are  touched,  nature  in  her  myriad  phases  is 
observed  with  the  eye  of  the  poet  and  scientist,  and 
the  aesthetic  side  of  poetry  and  rhythmic  prose,  its 
charm  and  graces  of  style,  its  music  and  eloquence, 
work  their  influence  upon  the  reader.  Literature  is 
a  harp  of  many  strings,  and  happy  is  that  teacher 
who  has  learned  to  detect  its  tones  and  overtones, 
who  has  listened  with  pleasure  to  its  varied  raptures, 
and  has  felt  that  expansion  of  soul  which  it  produces. 


3l6  SPECIAL    METHOD   IN    READING 

Literature,  in  the  sense  in  which  we  have  been 
using  it,  has  been  called  the  literature  of  power,  the 
literature  of  the  spirit.  That  is,  it  has  generative, 
spiritual  life.  It  is  not  simple  knowledge,  it  is 
knowledge  energized,  charged  with  potency.  It  is 
knowledge  into  which  the  poet  has  breathed  the 
breath  of  life.  The  difference  between  bare  knowl- 
edge and  the  literature  of  power  is  like  the  differ- 
ence between  a  perfect  statue  in  stone  and  a  living, 
pulsing,  human  form. 

One  of  the  virtues  of  literature,  therefore,  is  the 
mental  stimulus,  the  joy,  the  awakening,  the  inten- 
sity of  thought  it  spontaneously  calls  forth.  Text- 
books are  usually  a  bore,  but  literature  is  a  natural 
resource  even  in  hours  of  weariness.  Who  would 
dream  of  enlivening  leisure  hours  or  vacation  rest 
with  text-books  of  grammar,  or  arithmetic,  or  his- 
tory, or  science?  But  the  poet  soothes  with  music, 
solemn  or  gay,  according  to  our  choice.  If  we  go  to 
the  woods  or  lakes  to  escape  our  friends,  we  take  one 
of  the  masters  of  song  with  us.  After  a  day  of  toil 
and  weariness,  we  can  turn  to  "  Evangeline/'  or 
"  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  or  the  "  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal," 
and  soon  we  are  listening  to  — 

"  The  murmuring  pines  and  the  hemlocks," 

or  the  echo  of  the  hunter's  horn,  — 

"  The  deep-mouthed  bloodhound's  heavy  bay 
Resounded  up  the  rocky  way, 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER   317 

And  faint,  from  farther  distance  borne, 
Were  heard  the  clanging  hoof  and  horn." 


At  a  time  when  we  are  not  fit  for  the  irksome  and 
perfunctory  preparation  of  text-book  lessons,  we  are 
still  capable  of  receiving  abundant  entertainment  or 
hearty  inspiration  from  Warner's  "  How  I  killed  a 
Bear,"  or  Tennyson's  "Enoch  Arden,"  or  "Sleepy 
Hollow,"  Literature  is  recreation  in  its  double 
sense.     It  gives  rest  and  relief,  and  it  builds  up. 

Teachers  should  shake  themselves  free  from  the 
conviction  that  severe  disciplinary  studies  are  the 
best  part  of  education.  They  have  their  well- 
merited  place.  But  there  are  higher  spiritual  foun- 
tains from  which  to  draw.  Read  the  lives  of  Scott, 
Macaulay,  Irving,  Hawthorne,  and  Emerson,  and 
discover  that  the  things  we  do  with  the  greatest 
inward  spontaneity  and  pleasure  and  ease  are  often 
the  best. 

Literature,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  is  what  the 
teacher  needs,  because  our  best  authors  are  our 
best  teachers  in  their  method  of  handling  their  sub- 
jects. They  know  how  to  find  access  to  the  reader's 
mind  by  making  their  ideas  attractive,  interesting, 
and  beautiful.  They  seem  to  know  how  to  sharpen 
the  edge  of  truth  to  render  it  more  keen  and  inci- 
sive. They  drive  truth  deeper,  so  that  it  remains 
embedded  in  the  life  and  thought.  Let  a  poet  clothe 
an  idea  with  strength  and  wing  it  with  fancy,  and  it 


3l8  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

will  find  its  way  straight  to  the  heart.  First  of  all, 
nearly  all  our  classic  writers,  especially  those  we 
use  in  the  grades,  handle  their  subjects  from  the 
concrete,  graphic,  picturesque  side.  They  not  only 
illustrate  abundantly  from  nature  and  real  things  in 
life;  they  nearly  always  individualize  and  personify 
their  ideas.  Virtue  to  a  poet  is  nothing  unless  it 
is  impersonated.  A  true  poet  is  never  abstract  or 
dry  or  formal  in  his  treatment  of  a  subject.  It  is 
natural  for  a  literary  artist,  whether  in  verse  or  prose, 
to  create  pictures,  to  put  all  his  ideas  into  life  forms 
and  bring  them  close  to  the  real  ones  in  nature. 
Homer's  idea  of  wisdom  is  Minerva,  war  is  Mars, 
strength  is  Ajax,  skill  and  prudence  are  Ulysses, 
faithfulness  is  Penelope.  Dickens  does  not  talk  about 
schoolmasters  in  general,  but  of  Squeers.  Shake- 
speare's idea  of  jealousy  is  not  a  definition,  not  a 
formula,  but  Othello.  Those  books  which  have 
enthralled  the  world,  like  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  "  Arabian 
Nights,"  "  Evangeline,"  "  Ivanhoe,"  "  Merchant  of 
Venice," — they  deal  with  no  form  of  classified  or 
generalized  knowledge;  they  give  us  no  definitions, 
they  are  scenes  from  real  life.  They  stand  among 
realities,  and  their  roots  are  down  in  the  soil  of 
things.  They  are  persons  hemmed  in  by  the  close 
environment  of  facts. 

This  realism,  this  objectifying  of  thought,  this  liv- 
ing form  of  knowledge,  is  characteristic  of  all  great 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  319 

writers  in  prose  or  verse.  The  novelist,  the  romancer, 
the  poet,  the  orator,  and  even  the  essayist,  will  always 
put  the  breath  of  reality  into  his  work  by  an  infu- 
sion of  concreteness,  of  graphic  personification.  The 
poet's  fancy,  building  out  of  the  abundant  materials 
of  sense-experience,  is  what  gives  color  and  warmth 
to  all  his  thoughts.  Strong  writers  make  incessant 
use  of  figures  of  speech.  Their  thought  must  clothe 
itself  with  the  whole  panoply  of  imagery  and  graphic 
representation  in  order  to  be  efficient  in  the  warfare 
for  truth. 

What  a  lesson  for  the  teacher !  What  models  upon 
which  to  develop  his  style  of  thinking  !  If  the  teach- 
ing profession  and  its  work  could  be  weighed  in  the 
balance,  the  scale  would  fall  on  the  side  of  the 
abstract  with  a  heavy  thud.  Not  that  object  lessons 
will  save  us.  They  only  parody  the  truth.  For  the 
object  lesson  as  a  separate  thing  we  have  no  use  at 
all.  But  to  ground  every  idea  and  every  study  in 
realism,  to  pass  up  steadily  through  real  objects  and 
experience  to  a  perception  of  truths  which  have  wide 
application,  to  science  —  this  is  the  true  philosophy 
of  teaching. 

The  classic  writers  lead  us  even  one  grand  step 
beyond  realism.  The  fancy  builds  better  than  the 
cold  reason.  It  adorns  and  ennobles  thought  till  it 
becomes  full-fledged  for  the  flight  toward  the  ideal. 

As  the  poet,  standing  by  the  sea-shore,  ponders  the 
life  that  has  been  in  the  now  empty  shell  washed  up 


320  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

from  the  deep,  his  fancy  discovers  in  the  shell  a  re- 
semblance to  human  life  and  destiny,  and  he  cries :  — 

"  Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  O  my  soul, 
As  the  swift  seasons  roll ! 
Leave  thy  low-vaulted  past ! 
Let  each  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last, 
Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast, 
Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 
Leaving  thine  outgrown  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea  ! n 

Is  it  possible  that  one  could  fall  under  the  sway  of 
the  poets  and  artists,  appropriate  their  images  and 
fruitful  style  of  thought,  be  wrought  upon  by  their 
fancies,  and  still  remain  dull  and  lifeless  and  prosaic 
in  the  class-room  ?  No  wonder  that  true  literature 
has  been  called  the  literature  of  power,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  literature  of  knowledge  (supple- 
mentary readers,  pure  science,  information  books, 
etc.).  The  lives  and  works  of  our  best  writers  con- 
tain an  expansive  spiritual  energy,  which,  working 
into  the  mind  of  a  teacher,  breaks  the  shell  of 
mechanism  and  formality.  The  artist  gives  bright 
tints  and  colors  to  ideas  which  would  otherwise  be 
faded  and  bleached. 

The  study  of  the  best  literature  adapted  to  chil- 
dren in  each  age  is  a  fruitful  form  of  psychology  and 
child  study.  The  series  of  books  selected  for  the 
different  grades  is  supposed  to  be  adapted  to  the 
children    at  each   period.       The  books   which   suit 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER   32 1 

the  temper  and  taste  of  children  in  primary  grades 
are  peculiar  in  quality,  and  fit  those  pupils  better 
than  older  ones.  In  intermediate  classes  the  boyhood 
spirit,  which  delights  in  myth,  physical  deeds  of 
prowess,  etc.,  shows  itself,  and  many  of  the  stories, 
ballads,  and  longer  poems  breathe  this  spirit.  In 
grammar  grades  the  expanding,  maturing  minds  of 
children  leap  forward  to  the  appreciation  of  more 
complex  and  extended  forms  of  literature  which  deal 
with  some  of  the  great  problems  of  life  more 
seriously,  as  "  Snow-Bound,"  "  Evangeline,"  "  Roger 
de  Coverley,"  "Merchant  of  Venice,"  etc. 

Any  poem  or  story  which  is  suited  to  pupils  of  the 
common  school  may  generally  be  used  in  several 
grades.  Hawthorne's  "  Wonder  Book,"  for  instance, 
may  be  used  anywhere  from  the  third  to  the  eighth 
grade  by  a  skilful  teacher.  But  for  us  the  impor- 
tant question  is,  to  what  age  of  children  is  it  best 
adapted?  Where  does  its  style  of  thought  best  fit 
the  temper  of  the  children  ?  The  eighth  grade  may 
read  it  and  get  pleasure  and  good  from  it,  but  it  does 
not  come  up  to  the  full  measure  of  their  needs.  Chil- 
dren of  the  third  grade  cannot  master  it  with  sufficient 
ease,  but  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  or  first  part 
of  the  fifth  grade  it  seems  to  exactly  suit  the  wants, 
that  is,  the  spiritual  wants,  of  the  children.  It  will 
vary,  of  course,  in  different  schools  and  classes.  Now, 
it  is  a  problem  for  our  serious  consideration  to  deter- 
mine what  stories  to  use  and  just  where  each  belongs, 


322  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

within  reasonable  limits.  Let  us  inquire  where 
the  best  culture  effect  can  be  realized  from  each 
book  used,  where  it  is  calculated  to  work  its  best 
and  strongest  influence.  To  accomplish  this  result 
it  is  necessary  to  study  equally  the  temper  of  the 
children  and  the  quality  of  the  books,  to  seek  the 
proper  food  for  the  growing  mind  at  its  different 
stages.  This  is  not  chiefly  a  matter  of  simplicity  or 
complexity  of  language.  Our  readers  are  largely 
graded  by  the  difficulty  of  language.  But  literature 
should  be  distributed  through  the  school  grades 
according  to  its  power  to  arouse  thought  and  interest. 
Language  will  have  to  be  regarded,  but  as  secondary. 
Look  first  to  the  thought  material  which  is  to  engage 
children's  minds,  and  then  force  the  language  into 
subservice  to  that  end.  The  final  test  to  determine 
the  place  of  a  selection  in  the  school  course  must  be 
the  experiment  of  the  class-room.  We  may  exercise 
our  best  judgment  beforehand,  and  later  find  that  a 
classic  belongs  one  or  two  grades  higher  or  lower 
than  we  thought. 

We  really  need  some  comprehensive  principle  upon 
which  to  make  the  selection  of  materials  as  adapted 
to  the  nature  (psychology)  of  children.  The  theory 
of  the  culture  epochs  of  race  history  as  parallel  to 
child  development  offers  at  least  a  suggestion.  A 
few  of  the  great  periods  of  history  seem  to  correspond 
fairly  well  to  certain  epochs  of  child  growth.  The 
age  of  folk-lore  and  the  fairy  tale  is  often  called  the 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  323 

childhood  of  the  race;  the  predominance  of  the 
imagination  and  of  the  childlike  interpretation  of 
things  in  nature  reminds-  us  strikingly  of  the  fancies 
of  children.  We  find  also  that  the  literary  remains 
of  this  epoch  in  the  world's  history,  the  fairy  tales, 
are  the  peculiar  delight  of  children  from  four  to  six. 
In  like  manner  the  heroic  age  and  its  literary  prod- 
ucts seem  to  fascinate  the  children  of  nine  to  eleven 
years.  In  connection  with  this  theory  it  is  observed 
that  the  greatest  poets  of  the  world  in  different 
countries  are  those  who  have  given  poetic  form  and  ex- 
pression to  the  typical  ideas  and  characters  of  certain 
epochs  of  history.  So  Homer,  Virgil,  Dante,  Milton, 
Scott.  The  best  literature  is,  much  of  it,  the  precipi- 
tate of  the  thought  and  life  of  historical  epochs  in 
race  development  Experiment  has  shown  that 
much  of  this  literature  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  exert 
strong  culture  influence  upon  children.  Emerson,  in 
his  "  Essay  on  History,"  says  :  "What  is  the  founda- 
tion of  that  interest  all  men  feel  in  Greek  history,  let- 
ters, art,  and  poetry,  in  all  its  periods,  from  the  Heroic 
or  Homeric  age  down  to  the  domestic  life  of  the 
Athenians  and  Spartans,  four  or  five  centuries  later  ? 
What  but  this,  that  every  man  passes  personally 
through  a  Grecian  period ?"  And  again  :  "The  stu- 
dent interprets  the  age  of  chivalry  by  his  own  age  of 
chivalry,  and  the  days  of  maritime  adventure  and  cir- 
cumnavigation by  quite  parallel  miniature  experiences 
of  his  own.     To  the  sacred  history  of  the  world,  he  has 


324  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

the  same  key.  When  the  voice  of  a  prophet  out  of  the 
deeps  of  antiquity  merely  echoes  to  him  a  sentiment  of 
his  infancy,  a  prayer  of  his  youth,  he  then  pierces  to  the 
truth  through  all  the  confusion  of  tradition  and  the 
caricature  of  institutions/ *  The  literary  heritage  of 
the  chief  culture  epochs  is  destined  therefore  to  enter 
as  a  powerful  agent  in  the  education  of  children  in 
our  schools,  and  the  place  of  a  piece  of  literature  in 
history  suggests  at  least  its  place  in  child  culture. 

The  study  of  these  literary  masterpieces,  the  choic- 
est of  the  world,  while  it  offers  a  broad  perspective 
of  history,  also  enters  deep  into  the  psychology  of 
children  and  their  periods  of  growth  and  change. 
What  a  study  for  the  teacher! 

Suppose  now  that  a  wise  selection  of  the  best 
products  for  school  use  had  been  made.  The  books 
for  each  grade  would  respond  not  only  to  the  ability 
but  to  the  characteristic  temper  and  mental  status 
of  children  at  that  age.  The  books  would  arouse 
the  full  compass  of  the  children's  mental  power, 
their  emotional  as  well  as  intellectual  capacities, 
their  sympathy,  interest,  and  feeling.  The  teacher 
who  is  about  to  undertake  the  training  of  these 
children  may  not  know  much  about  children  of  that 
age.  How  can  she  best  put  herself  into  an  attitude 
by  which  she  can  meet  and  understand  the  children 
on  their  own  ground  ?  Not  simply  their  intellectual 
ability  and  standing,  but,  better  still,  their  impulses 
and  sympathies,  their  motives  and   hearts  ?      Most 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  325 

people,  as  they  reach  maturity  and  advance  in  years, 
have  a  tendency  to  grow  away  from  their  childhood. 
Their  purposes  have  changed  from  those  of  childhood 
to  those  of  mature  life.  They  are  no  longer  interested 
in  the  things  that  interest  children.  Such  things  seem 
trivial  and  even  incomprehensible  to  them. 

Now  the  person  who  is  preparing  to  be  a  teacher 
should  grow  back  into  his  childhood.  Without  losing 
the  dignity  or  purpose  of  mature  life,  he  should  allow 
the  memories  and  sympathies  of  childhood  to  revive. 
The  insight  which  comes  from  companionship  and 
sympathy  with  children  he  needs  in  order  to  guide 
them  with  tact  and  wisdom. 

The  literature  which  belongs  to  any  age  of  child- 
hood is  perhaps  the  best  key  to  the  spirit  and  dispo- 
sition of  that  period.  The  fact  that  it  is  of  permanent 
worth  makes  it  a  fit  instrument  with  which  the  teacher 
may  reawaken  the  dormant  experiences  and  mem- 
ories of  that  period  in  his  own  life.  The  teacher 
who  finds  it  impossible  to  reawaken  his  interest  in  the 
literature  that  goes  home  to  the  hearts  of  children 
has  prima  facie  evidence  that  he  is  not  qualified  to 
stimulate  and  guide  their  mental  movements.  The 
human  element  in  letters  is  the  source  of  its  deep 
and  lasting  power;  the  human  element  in  children 
is  the  centre  of  their  educative  life,  and  he  who  dis- 
regards this  and  thinks  only  of  intellectual  exercises 
is  a  poor  machine.  The  literature  which  children 
appreciate  and  love  is  the  key  to  their  soul  life.     It 


326  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

has  power  to  stimulate  teacher  and  pupil  alike,  and 
is  therefore  a  common  ground  where  they  may  both 
stand  and  look  into  each  other's  faces  with  sympathy. 
This  is  not  so  much  the  statement  of  a  theory  as 
a  direct  inference  from  many  observations.  It  has 
been  observed  repeatedly,  in  different  schools  under 
many  teachers,  that  the  "Lady  of  the  Lake,"  "Vision 
of  Sir  Launfal,"  "  Sleepy  Hollow,"  or  "  Merchant  of 
Venice"  have  had  an  astonishing  power  to  bring 
teacher  and  children  into  near  and  cherished  com- 
panionship. It  is  not  possible  to  express  the  profound 
lessons  of  life  that  children  get  from  the  poets.  In 
the  prelude  to  Whittier's  "Among  the  Hills,"  what 
a  picture  is  drawn  of  the  coarse,  hard  lot  of  parents 
and  children  in  an  ungarnished  home,  "so  pinched 
and  bare  and  comfortless,"  while  the  poem  itself,  a 
view  of  that  home  among  the  hills  which  thrift  and 
taste  and  love  have  made, — 

"  Invites  the  eye  to  see  and  heart  to  feel 
The  beauty  and  the  joy  within  their  reach ; 
Home  and  home  loves  and  the  beatitudes 
Of  nature  free  to  all." 

To  study  such  poetry  in  its  effect  upon  children  is  a 
monopoly  of  the  rich  educational  opportunity  which 
falls  naturally  into  the  hands  of  teachers.  Psychol- 
ogy, as  derived  from  text-books,  is  apt  to  be  cold 
and  formal;  that  which  springs  from  the  contact  of 
young  minds  with  the  fountains  of  song  lives  and 
breathes.       If   a  teacher  desires   to   fit  herself  for 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  327 

primary  instruction,  she  can  do  nothing  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  bring  herself  en  rapport  with  little  children 
as  to  read  the  nursery  rhymes,  the  fairy  tales,  fables, 
and  early  myths.  They  bring  her  along  a  charming 
road  into  the  realm  of  childlike  fancies  and  sympa- 
thies, which  were  almost  faded  from  her  memory. 
The  same  door  is  opened  through  well-selected 
literature  to  the  hearts  of  children  in  intermediate 
and  grammar  grades. 

The  sense  of  humor  is  cultivated  in  literature 
better  than  elsewhere.  In  fact,  no  other  study 
contains  much  material  of  humorous  quality.  A 
quick  sense  of  it  is  deemed  by  many  of  the  best 
judges  an  indispensable  quality  in  teachers.  Not 
that  a  teacher  needs  to  be  a  diverting  story-teller 
or  entertainer,  if  only  he  has  an  indulgent  patience 
and  kindly  sympathy  for  those  who  enjoy  telling 
stories.  There  is  a  certain  hearty,  wholesome  social 
spirit  in  the  enjoyment  of  humor  which  diffuses 
itself  like  sunlight  through  a  school.  It  contains  an 
element  of  kindliness,  humanity,  and  good  fellowship 
which  lubricates  all  the  machinery  and  takes  away 
unnecessary  stiffness  and  gravity  in  conduct.  Best 
of  all  it  is  a  sort  of  mental  balance-wheel  for  the 
teacher,  which  enables  him  to  see  the  ludicrous 
phases  of  his  own  behavior,  should  he  be  inclined 
to  run  to  foolish  extremes  in  various  directions. 
Much  of  our  best  literature  abounds  in  humorous 
elements.     Lowell,  Holmes,  Shakespeare,  and  Irving 


328  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

are  spontaneously  rich  in  this  quality  of  ore,  and  it 
is  just  as  well  perhaps  to  cultivate  our  appreciation 
in  these  richer  veins  as  in  shallow  and  unproductive 
ones  elsewhere. 

Schlegel  says  of  Shakespeare,  his  "  comic  talent 
is  equally  wonderful  with  that  he  has  shown  in  the 
pathetic  and  tragic;  it  stands  at  an  equal  elevation 
and  possesses  equal  extent  and  profundity.  .  .  .  Not 
only  has  he  delineated  many  kinds  of  folly,  but  even 
of  sheer  stupidity  he  has  contrived  to  give  a  most 
diverting  and  entertaining  picture." 

The  inability  to  appreciate  the  ludicrous  and  farci- 
cal, and  especially  of  witty  conceits,  is  felt  to  be  a 
mark  of  dulness  and  heaviness,  and  in  dealing  with 
children  and  young  people  a  versatile  perception  of 
the  humorous  is  very  helpful.  Many  of  the  pupils 
possess  this  quality  of  humor  in  a  marked  degree, 
and  the  teacher  should  at  least  have  sufficient  insight 
to  appreciate  this  peculiar  bent  of  mind  and  turn  of 
wit. 

A  brief  retrospect  will  make  plain  the  profitable- 
ness of  classics  to  the  teacher.  They  show  a  deep 
perspective  into  the  spirit  and  inner  workings  of  his- 
tory. The  social  life  and  insight  developed  by  the 
study  of  literature  give  tact  and  judgment  to  under- 
stand and  respect  the  many-sided  individualities 
found  in  every  school.  The  teacher's  own  moral  and 
aesthetic  and  religious  ideals  are  constantly  lifted  and 
strengthened  by  the  study  of  classics.     Such  reading 


THE  VALUE  OF  CLASSICS  TO  THE  TEACHER  329 

is  a  recreation  and  relief  even  in  hours  of  weariness 
and  solitude.  It  is  an  expansive  spiritual  power 
rather  than  a  burden.  Literary  artists  are  also  a 
standing  illustration  of  the  graphic,  spirited  manner 
of  handling  subjects.  Finally,  this  rich  and  varied 
realm  of  classic  thought  and  expression  is  the  door- 
way by  which  we  enter  again  into  the  moods  and 
impulses  and  fancies  of  childhood.  We  thus  revive 
our  own  youth  and  fit  ourselves  for  a  quick  and  ap- 
preciative perception  of  children's  needs.  It  is  the 
best  kind  of  child  study. 

A  few  of  the  books  which  are  suggestive,  and  illus- 
trate the  value  of  literature  for  teachers,  and  in  some 
cases  even  lay  out  lines  of  profitable  and  stimulative 
reading,  are  as  follows  :  — 

Newell  Dwight  Hillis.     Great  Books  and  Life  Teachers.  (Flem- 
ing H.  Revell  Co.) 
George  Willis  Cooke.     Poets  and  Problems.     (Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co.) 
The  Schoolmaster  in  Literature.     (The  American  Book  Co.) 
Representative  Essays.     (G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.) 
Hamilton  Wright  Mabie.     Books  and  Culture.     (Dodd,  Mead, 

&Co.) 
James  Baldwin.     The  Book  Lover.     (A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.) 
The  Schoolmaster  in  Comedy  and  Satire.     (The  American  Book 

Co.) 
Emerson's  Essays. 

Schlegel's  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature.     (Bonn's  Libraries.) 
Ruskin's  Sesame  and  Lilies,  and  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture. 
Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson.     Book  and  Heart.     (Harper  & 
Brothers.) 


330  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Carlyle's  Heroes  and  Hero-Worship. 

Counsel  upon  the  Reading  of  Books.     Van  Dyke.     (Houghton, 

Mifflin,  &  Co.) 
Literary  and  General  Essays.     Charles   Kingsley.     (Macmillan 

&Co.) 


CHAPTER  XV 
List  of  Books 

The  following  list  of  books,  arranged  according  to 
grades,  is  designed  to  supply  the  children  of  the  five 
grades,  from  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  inclusive,  with 
excellent  reading  matter  in  the  form  of  complete 
masterpieces  of  American  and  English  literature. 
It  includes,  besides  the  books  for  regular  reading 
lessons,  a  large  list  of  collateral  and  closely  related 
works  for  the  children  and  also  for  teachers. 

The  books  of  these  lists  contain  a  rich  and  varied 
fund  of  finest  culture  material,  first  of  all  for  the 
teacher,  and,  through  her  spirit  and  enthusiasm,  for 
the  children. 

Besides  the  general  discussions  of  these  books  in 
the  preceding  chapters,  a  few  additional  explanations 
are  necessary  to  make  plain  the  grounds  upon  which 
this  particular  selection  and  arrangement  of  books  is 
based.  The  whole  purpose  of  the  preceding  chapters 
is  to  throw  light  upon  this  list,  and  to  qualify  the 
teacher  for  an  intelligent  and  efficient  use  of  these 
books  as  school  readers. 

i.  The  books  apportioned  to  each  grade  or  year 
are  divided  into  two  series.     The  first  series  is  care- 

33i 


332  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

fully  selected  to  serve  as  regular  reading-books  for 
that  grade.  Almost  without  exception  they  are  com- 
plete works,  or  collections  of  complete  poems,  stories, 
etc.  Many  of  them  are  very  familiar  and  have  been 
much  used  in  the  schools.  The  number  of  books  for 
each  grade  is  large,  so  as  to  have  room  for  choice 
and  adaptation  to  each  class. 

The  second  series  consists  of  closely  related  collat- 
eral readings  derived  from  a  much  wider  range  of 
books  in  literature,  history,  and  science.  Many  of 
these  books  of  the  second  list  are  not  so  strictly  mas- 
terpieces of  literature,  but  of  a  secondary  rank  as 
prose  renderings  of  the  great  poems,  myths,  and 
stories  of  other  languages,  also  American  and  Euro- 
pean history  stories.  These  materials  are  well  adapted 
for  the  reference  studies  and  home  readings  of  chil- 
dren. They  all  deal  with  interesting  and  worthy 
subjects  of  thought  in  a  superior  style.  Many  of 
these  books,  however,  are  great  and  permanent  works 
of  literature.  They  are  materials,  also,  which  the 
teacher  should  be  familiar  with.  They  should  be 
constantly  referred  to  and  discussed  in  connection 
with  the  first  series.  It  is  quite  probable  that  some 
teachers  will  prefer  books  of  the  second  series  for 
regular  reading  in  the  place  of  some  suggested  in 
the  first  series. 


LIST    OF   BOOKS  333 

FOURTH   GRADE 
I.   BOOKS  FOR  REGULAR  READING  LESSONS 

Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.;   The 
Macmillan  Co. 
Has  been  very  extensively  used  in  fourth  and  fifth  grades, 
and  even  in  sixth.     A  book  of  standard  excellence. 
Kingsley's  Greek  Heroes.     Ginn  &  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
Much  used.     Excellent.     Covers  much  the  same  ground  as 
the  Wonder  Book  and  is  preferred  to  it  by  some. 
Stories  from  the  Arabian  Nights.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Excellent.     It  contains  some  of  the  most  familiar  stories,  as 
Aladdin,  in  simple  form. 
Whittier's  Child  Life  in  Poetry  and  Prose.  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
An  excellent  selection  of  poems  and  stories  of  child  life  by 
Whittier.     It  has   many  simple  poems  and   stories,    as 
Barefoot  Boy,  John  Gilpin,  etc.     Also  for  fifth  grade. 
Fanciful  Tales  (Stockton).     Scribner's  Sons. 

Very  pleasing  and  well-told  stories  for  children.     It  has  not 
been  as  widely  known  as  it  should  be. 
Book  of  Tales.     American  Book  Co. 

A  good  collection  of  old  fairy  tales,  stories,  and  poems.    It 
has  been  extensively  used. 
Old  Testament  Stories  in  Scripture  Language.     Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co.     Abraham,  Joseph,  Moses,  and  others. 
The  patriarchal  stories  in  familiar  Bible  language.     It  may 
be  a  little  difficult  for  the  first  part  of  the  year. 
Round   the   Year  in  Myth  and  Song   (Holbrook).     American 
Book  Co. 
A  fine  collection  of  nature  poems  for  occasional  use  through- 
out the  year. 
Bird-World  (Stickney-HofFman).     Ginn  &  Co. 

An  interesting  collection  of  bird  stories  and  descriptions. 
Simple.    A  good  book  to  encourage  observation  of  birds. 
Nature  in  Verse  (Lovejoy).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 


334  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

An  excellent  collection  of  nature  poems  arranged  by  the 
seasons. 
Book  of  Legends  (Scudder).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Andersen's  Fairy  Tales.     First  and  Second  Series.     Ginn  &  Co. 
Grimm's  Fairy  Tales.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Four  Great  Americans  (Baldwin).    Werner  School  Book  Co. 
Hans  Andersen  Tales.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Squirrels  and  Other  Fur-Bearers  (Burroughs).     Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 

Very  entertaining,  but  somewhat  difficult  in  language.    Use 
toward  the  end  of  the  year,  and  in  fifth  grade. 
Peabody's  Old  Greek  Folk  Stories.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Simple  and  well  written.     It  supplements  the  Wonder  Book. 
King  Arthur  and  his  Court  (Greene).     Ginn  &  Co. 

A  recent  book.     Simple  in  style  and  pleasing  to  children. 
The  Howells  Story  Book.     Scribner's  Sons. 

2.  SUPPLEMENTARY  AND  REFERENCE  BOOKS 

Stories  of  Our  Country  (Johonnot).     American  Book  Co. 

Good  American  stories  for  children  to  read  at  home  or 
school. 
Tales  from  the  "  Faerie  Queene."     The  Macmillan  Co. 

For  reference  and  library. 
Bimbi  (De  la  Rame'e) .     Ginn  &  Co. 

The  Niirnberg   Stove  and  other  good  stories.     Good  for 
home  reading  and  for  school  work. 
The  Niirnberg    Stove.     Maynard,   Merrill,  &  Co.  ;  Houghton, 

Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Gods  and  Heroes  (Francillon) .     Ginn  &  Co. 

Suitable  to  late  fourth  and  fifth  grades  for  collateral  read- 
ing.    Simple  in  style. 
Waste  Not,  Want  Not   (Edgeworth).     Ginn  &  Co.;    D.   C. 
Heath  &  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Practical  stories  for  children,  illustrating  foresight,  economy, 
etc. 
A  Ballad  Book  (Bates).     Sibley  &  Ducker. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  335 

A  good  collection  of  the  older,  simpler  ballads.    These  bal- 
lads should  be  distributed  through  the  year.     Good  for 
supplementary  reading,  also  for  drill  in  reading. 
The  Story  of  Ulysses  (Cook).     Public  School  Publishing  Co. 

An  excellent  rendering,  sometimes  used  as  a  reader. 
Friends  and  Helpers  (Eddy) .     Ginn  &  Co. 

Stories  of  animals  and  birds.     Instructive. 
Hans  Andersen  Stories.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Tommy-Anne  and  the  Three  Hearts  (Wright).     The  Macmil- 

lan  Co. 
First  Book  of  Birds  (Miller).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Very  simple  and  interesting  descriptions   and  accounts  of 
common  birds.    Will    help  to  interest  the    children  in 
nature. 
The   Little  Lame  Prince.    Maynard,    Merrill,  &  Co. ;    D.    C. 
Heath  &  Co. 
A  story  for  home  reading. 
The  Dog  of  Flanders.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
An  excellent  story  for  children  to  read  at  home  or  in  school. 
Pathetic. 
Old  Stories  of  the  East  (Baldwin).     American  Book  Co. 

A  pleasing  treatment  of  the  old  Bible  stories,  not  in  Bible 
language.     Well  written. 
Fairy  Tales  in  Prose  and  Verse  (Rolfe).     American  Book  Co. 

A  choice  collection  of  stories  and  poems. 
Heroes  of  Asgard.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

A  good  simple  treatment  of  the  Norse  myths.      Suitable  for 
supplementary  and  sight  reading. 
Tales  of  Troy  (De  Garmo).     Public  School  Publishing  Co. 

A  simple  narrative  of  the  Trojan  War.     Supplementary. 
Our  Feathered  Friends  (Grinnell).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Instructive  book  on  birds. 
Alice's  Adventures  in   Wonderland   (Carroll).       The  Macmil- 
lan Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
Very  suitable  for  home  and  family  reading.      Younger  chil- 
dren enjoy  it  much.     Entertaining. 


336  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

Jackanapes,  and   The    Brownies    (Mrs.    Ewing).      Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Through  the  Looking  Glass  (Carroll).      The  Macmillan  Co.; 
Educational  Publishing  Co. 

The  Merry  Adventures  of  Robin  Hood  (Pyle).     Scribner's  Sons. 

An  expensive  book  (about  three  dollars) .     Excellent  stories 

to    read    to    children.     Full   of  humor    and   adventure. 

Finely  illustrated.      A  good  book  for  school  and  home 

library. 

Open  Sesame,  Vol.  I  and  Vol.  II.     Ginn  &  Co. 

A  fine  collection  of  the  best  poems  of  nature,  heroism, 
Christmas  time,  etc.  Ballads  and  stories.  They  are 
adapted  to  children  in  several  grades,  and  should  be  used 
for  reading,  memory  work,  and  for  recitation. 

Stories  of  the  Old  World  (Church) .     Ginn  &  Co. 

Good  reading  matter  for  fourth  and  fifth  grades.  Interest- 
ing for  supplementary  reading. 

Stories  of  American  Life  and  Adventure  (Eggleston) .      Ameri- 
can Book  Co. 

Black  Beauty.  Educational  Publishing  Co. ;  University  Pub.  Co. 

Children's  Treasury  of  English  Song.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
A  collection  of  spirited  and  interesting  poems. 


FIFTH   GRADE 

i.   BOOKS   FOR  REGULAR  READING  LESSONS 

Hiawatha.     Houghton,  Mifflin,   &  Co. ;    The  Macmillan  Co. ; 
Educational  Publishing  Co. ;  University  Pub.  Co. 
Used  in  several  grades. 
Lays  of  Ancient  Rome  (Macaulay).      Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ; 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. ;    Educa- 
tional Publishing  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. 
The  four  ballad  poems.     Good  school   reading  for  children. 
Names  somewhat  hard  at  first.      Very  stimulating  and 
heroic.     Used  also  in  sixth  grade. 


LIST    OF    BOOKS  337 

King  of  the  Golden  River  (Ruskin).       Ginn  &  Co. ;    The  Mao 
millan    Co. ;  Houghton,    Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  D.  C.   Heath 
&  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Much  used.     Excellent  story  and  reading. 
Tanglewood  Tales  (Hawthorne).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Companion  book  to  the  Wonder  Book.       Excellent  matter 
for  reading. 
Water  Babies  (Kingsley).     Ginn  &  Co. ;    The  Macmillan  Co.; 
Educational  Publishing  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Interesting  story.      Good  also  for  home  reading.      Better, 
perhaps,  for  sixth  grade. 
Ulysses    among    the    Phaeacians    (Bryant).       Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 
Simple  and  easy.     Poetic  in  its  rendering.      Better  for  sixth 
grade  in  some  classes. 
Tales  from  English  History  (prose  and  verse).     American  Book 
Company. 
Stories  and  ballads  of  the  leading  periods  of  English  history 

from  the  best  authors.     Illustrated. 
Gulliver's  Travels.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ; 

The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
Somewhat  difficult  in  spots.     Very  interesting  to  boys  and 

girls.     For  some  classes  use  in  sixth  grade. 
Adventures  of  Ulysses  (Lamb).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath 

&Co. 
Well  told,  giving  complete  outline  of  the  whole  story. 
Heroic  Ballads.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Scotch  and  English  and  many  later  and  American  ballads. 
The  Pied  Piper  and  Other  Poems    (Browning).       Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Also  other  poems  and  ballads  of  Browning. 
Tales  from  Scottish  History  (Rolfe).     American  Book  Co. 
Some  Merry  Adventures  of  Robin   Hood    (Pyle).      Scribner's 
Sons.     Shorter  School  Edition. 
Humorous  and  entertaining. 
Little  Daffydowndilly  and  Biographical  Stories  (Hawthorne). 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.     The  latter  for  sixth  grade. 


338  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Stories  of  American  Life  and  Adventure  (Eggleston) .      Ameri- 
can Book  Co. 

The  Ways  of  Wood  Folk  (Long).     Ginn  &  Co. 

An  excellent  nature  book  for  children,  entertaining,  instruc- 
tive, and  well  written. 

Gulliver's    Voyage    to     Lilliput    (Swift).       Maynard,     Merrill, 
&Co. 

Squirrels  and  Other  Fur-Bearers  (Burroughs) .     Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 

The  Children's  Hour  (Longfellow).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 


2.  SUPPLEMENTARY  AND  REFERENCE  BOOKS 

Arabian  Nights  (Hale).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Many   of  the   best   stories    of  the  collection,  including  a 
number   of  the    less    familiar   ones.      Also    for   regular 
reading. 
Ten  Boys  on  the  Road  from  Long  Ago.     Ginn  &  Co. 

A  book  interesting  and  much  used.     Good  for  reading  in 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  grades.     Also  for  sight  reading. 
Robinson  Crusoe.     Ginn  &  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ;  American 
Book  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
Much  reduced  and  simplified  from  the  original.     A  complete 
and  more  difficult  edition  is  published  by  Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 
The  Odyssey  of  Homer  (Palmer).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
A  complete  prose  translation  of  the  entire  Odyssey.     Prob- 
ably the  best.     Good  for  fifth  and  sixth  grades. 
Bryant's  Odyssey.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  simple,  poetic  rendering  of  the  whole  Odyssey.     A  good 
teacher's  book.     Use  parts  in  class. 
Bryant's  Iliad.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Complete  poetic  translation.     One  of  the  best. 
Heroes  of  the  Middle  West  (Catherwood).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Good  stories   of  the  early  French  explorers  of  the  Great 
Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  Valley.     Somewhat  difficult. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  339 

Pope's  Iliad.     The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ;  American  Book 
Co. ;  Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. ;  D.C.  Heath  &  Co. 
A  famous  rendering  of  the  old  Greek  story.     Still  better 
for  sixth  grade. 
A  Story  of  the  Golden  Age  (Baldwin).     Scribner's  Sons. 
Secrets  of  the  Woods  (Long) .     Ginn  &  Co. 
Old  Greek  Story  (Baldwin).     American  Book  Co. 
Arabian  Nights  (Clarke).     American  Book  Co. 
Colonial  Children  (Hart).     The  Macmillan  Co. 

Simple  and  well-chosen  source  material.     Excellent. 
Krag  and  Jonny  Bear  (Seton).     Scribner's  Sons. 
Poems  of  American  Patriotism  (Matthews).     Scribner's  Sons. 
Ballads  and  Lyrics.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Stories  from  Herodotus.     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  The  Mac- 
millan Co. 
Simple  and  interesting  stories.     Good  also  for  sixth  grade. 
Jason's  Quest.     Sibley  &  Ducker. 

The  story  of  Jason  told  in  full.     Interesting  and  well  written. 
Book  of  Golden  Deeds.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

A  fine  collection  of  historical  and  famous  stories.     For  sixth 
grade  also. 
Historical  Tales,  American  (Morris).     J.  B.  Lippincott. 

One  of  the  best  collections  of  American  stories. 
Greek  Gods,  Heroes,  and  Men.     Scott,  Foresman,  &  Co. 

A  collection  of  Greek  stories,  both  mythical  and  historical. 
The  Story  of  the  English  (Guerber).     American  Book  Co. 

A  complete  series  of  English  history  stories  arranged  chrono- 
logically, good  for  fifth  and  sixth  grades. 
Tales  of  Chivalry  (Rolfe).     American  Book  Co. 

Good  stories  from  Scott,  mostly  from  Ivanhoe.     Also  the 
early  life  of  Scott.     Good  for  fifth  and  sixth  grades. 
Boy's  King  Arthur  (Lanier).     Scribner's  Sons. 

A  very  interesting  story  for  boys  and  girls.     A  good  library 
book  ($2.00). 
The  Story  of  Siegfried  (Baldwin).     Scribner's  Sons. 

A  full  and  attractive  story  of  Siegfried's  adventures.    A  good 
library  book  ($2.00). 


340  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Pioneer  History   Stories    (McMurry).     Three  volumes.     The 
Macmillan  Co.     Also  for  sixth  year. 
Early  pioneer  stories  of  the  Eastern  states,  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  and  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Open  Sesame.     Part  II.     Ginn  &  Co. 

A  good  collection  of  poems  arranged  in  important  classes. 
The  story  of  the  Greeks  (Guerber).     American  Book  Co. 

Leading  stories  of  Greek  myth  and  history.     For  fifth  and 
sixth  grades. 
The  Story  of  Troy.     American  Book  Co. 
A  short  narrative  of  the  Trojan  War. 
Story  of  the  Odyssey  (Church).     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Library  book  for  general  reading.     Simple. 


SIXTH   GRADE 

i.    BOOKS   FOR  REGULAR   READING  LESSONS 

The  Sketch-Book  (Irving).     Ginn  &  Co.;  American  Book  Co.; 
Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  Macmillan  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. ;  Educational  Pub.  Co. ;  University  Pub.  Co. 
Rip  Van  Winkle  and  other  American  essays.     One  of  the  best 
books  for  sixth  grade.    Used  also  in  fifth  and  seventh  grades . 
The  Courtship   of  Miles   Standish   (Longfellow).      Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Excellent  in  many  ways  for  sixth-grade  children.  A  dramatized 
edition  is  also  published.   Used  sometimes  in  seventh  grade. 
The   Christmas   Carol  (Dickens).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &   Co. ; 
Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
Excellent  as  literature  and  for  variety  of  style  in  class  work. 
Used  also  in  seventh  grade. 
Hunting  of  the  Deer  (Warner).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Including  also  How  I  Killed  a  Bear,  and  other  admirable 
stories,  in  which  the  humor  and  sentiment  are  fine.     Used 
also  in  seventh  grade. 
Snow-Bound  and  Songs  of  Labor  (Whittier).     Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  341 

One  of  the  best  American  poems  for  children.    Used  also 
in  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 
Coming  of  Arthur  and  Passing  of  Arthur.     Houghton,  Mifflin, 
&  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
In  the  fine,  poetic  style  of  Tennyson,  but  simple.     Suited 
also  for  seventh  grade. 
The  Gentle  Boy  and  Other  Tales    (Hawthorne).    Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 
A  pathetic  story  of  the  Quaker  persecutions  in  New  England. 
Tales  of  the  White  Hills  and  Sketches  (Hawthorne).     Hough- 
ton, Mifflin,  &  Co. 
The  Great  Stone  Face  in  this  series  is  one  of  the  choicest 
stories  for  children  in  English. 
Plutarch's  Alexander  the  Great.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  good  biography  for  children  and  serves  well  as  an  intro- 
duction to  Plutarch. 
Grandfather's  Chair  (Hawthorne).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
The  best  stories  we  have  of  early  and  colonial  New  England 
history.     Good  also  for  seventh  grade. 
Children's  Hour,  Paul  Revere,  and  other  poems  (Longfellow). 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
This  contains  also  the  Birds  of  Killingworth,  and  other 
of  Longfellow's  best  short  poems. 
Birds  and  Bees,  Sharp  Eyes,  and  other  papers  (Burroughs). 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.     Also  for  seventh  grade. 
These  are  among  the  best  of  Burroughs's  books  for  children. 
Classic  in  style  and  choice  in  matter. 
Hawthorne's  Biographical  Stories.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Seven  American  Classics  (Swinton).     American  Book  Co. 

A  good  collection  of  American  classics  suited  to  this  grade. 
Three  Outdoor  Papers  (Higginson).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Interesting  studies  of  nature  in  choice  style. 
Giles  Corey  (Longfellow).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  drama  of  the  Salem  witchcraft,  with  directions  for  its 
representation  on  the  stage. 
The  Building  of  the  Ship,  The  Masque  of  Pandora,  and  other 
poems  (Longfellow) .     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 


34^  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

Excellent.     The  Masque  of  Pandora  could  be  rendered  in 
dramatic  form  by  children.     Also  for  seventh  grade. 
Mabel  Martin  and  other  poems  (Whittier) .     Houghton,  Mifflin, 
&Co. 
A  choice  collection  of  poems  from  Whittier.    A  good  picture 
of  New  England  life.     Used  also  in  seventh  and  eighth 
grades. 
Baby  Bell,   The    Little  Violinist,  and  other  prose  and  verse 
(Aldrich).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Very  choice  poems  and  stories. 
Open  Sesame,  Vol.  II,  and  Vol.  III.     Ginn  &  Co. 

Poems  and  ballads.     A  collection  well  arranged  for  various 
school  use,  for  reading,  recitation,  and  memorizing. 


2.  SUPPLEMENTARY  AND  REFERENCE  BOOKS 

Ten  Great  Events  in  History  (Johonnot).     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Good  collateral  reading  in  this  grade. 
Lanier's  Froissart.     Scribner's  Sons. 
A  fine  story  for  library  ($2.00). 
Child's  History  of  England  (Dickens).     Hurst  &  Co. ;  Hough- 
ton, Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. 
A  book  much  used.     Should  be  in  a  school  library. 
Tales  from  Shakespeare  (Lamb).     American   Book  Co. ;  Mac- 
millan  Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. ;  D.   C.   Heath 
&  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Designed  as  an  introduction  to  the  plays  of  Shakespeare. 
Language  and  style  superior.     Used  also  in  seventh  grade. 
Pilgrim's  Progress  (Bunyan).     Macmillan   Co.;  Ginn  &  Co.; 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  University  Publishing  Co. 
The  famous  old  story  which  all  children  should  read.     A 
book  for  the  library  and  the  home. 
Story  of  Caesar  (Clarke).     American  Book  Co. 
Heroes  and  Patriots  of  the  Revolution  (Hart) .    The  Macmillan  Co. 
Swiss  Family  Robinson.    Ginn  &  Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
A  library  book  for  children.     University  Publishing  Co. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  343 

Stories  from  Old  English   Poetry  (Richardson).      Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 

An  excellent  series  of  stories  from  Chaucer  and  others. 
Historical  Tales,  English  (Morris).     J.  B.  Lippincott. 

A  good  collection  of  English  history  stories. 
Selections  from  Irving.     Sibley  &  Ducker. 

A  variety  of  interesting  selections  from  Irving's  works. 
The  Conquest  of  Mexico  (Prescott).     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

The  story  of  Cortes  and  his  adventures  told  by  a  master. 
William  Tell  (McMurry).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

The  drama  of  Schiller's  Wilhelm  Tell,  translated  into  simple 
English.     Adapted  for  representation. 
Source  Book  of  American  History  (Hart).     Macmillan  Co. 

The  parts  bearing  on  the  colonial  history.     Original  sources, 
letters,  etc. 
Story  of  a  Bad  Boy  (Aldrich).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  good  narrative  of  boy  life,  humorous  and  entertaining. 
Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  (Scott) .     The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Maynard, 
Merrill,  &  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

One  of  the  best  descriptions  of  the  old  minstrelsy.     Suitable 
for  sixth  and  seventh  grades. 
Choice  English  Lyrics  (Baldwin).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

A    great    variety  of   choice    poems,    ballads,    lyrics,    and 
sonnets. 
Poetry  of  the  Seasons  (Lovejoy).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

A  choice  collection  of  nature  poems. 
Wilderness  Ways  (Long).     Ginn  &  Co. 

An  interesting  study  of  wild  animals,  birds,  etc. 
Famous  Allegories  (Baldwin).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

A  good  selection  for  reference  reading  and  for  teachers. 
Rab  and  His  Friends  (Brown).     Educational  Publishing  Co.; 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Interesting  stories  of  dogs  for  children. 
Story  of  Oliver  Twist  (Dickens).     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Suitable  for  introducing  children  to  Dickens. 
Undine  (La  Motte-Fouque').     Ginn  &  Co. 
Nine  Worlds  (Litchfield).     Ginn  &  Co. 


344  SPECIAL   METHOD    IN   READING 

Hans  Brinker,  or  the  Silver  Skates  (Mary  Mapes  Dodge).     Cen- 
tury Co. 
Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha.     Scribner's  Sons ;  Ginn  &  Co. 
Tales  of  a  Traveller  (Irving).     American  Book  Co.;  Maynard, 
Merrill,  &  Co. 
Various  interesting  stories  of  adventure. 
Pilgrims  and  Puritans  (Moore).     Ginn  &  Co. 

One  of  the  best  books  on  the  early  history  of  Plymouth  and 
Boston.     Very  simple  and  well  told. 
Stories  from  Waverley  (Gassiot).     The  Macmillan  Co. 

For  reference  reading.     Stories  from  Scott. 
Golden  Treasury  of  Songs  and  Lyrics  (Palgrave).     The  Mac- 
millan Co. 
A  collection  of  the  best  songs  and  lyrical  poems. 
The  Rose  and  the  Ring  (Thackeray).    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


SEVENTH   GRADE 

i.   BOOKS  FOR  REGULAR   READING  LESSONS 

Evangeline  (Longfellow).    Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.;  The  Mac- 
millan Co. ;  The  University  Publishing  Co. 
This  has  been  much  used  in  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 
Sella,  Thanatopsis,   and  Other  Poems    (Bryant).      Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Some  of  Bryant's  best  poetic  productions.   Or  eighth  grade. 
Sohrab  and  Rustum  (Arnold) .     American  Book  Co. ;    Hough- 
ton, Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Maynard  &  Merrill ;  Werner  School 
Book  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
Style  simple,  but  highly  poetic.     Used  also  in  eighth  grade. 
Cricket   on   the  Hearth  (Dickens).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co.; 

Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Enoch  Arden,  and  The  Lotus  Eaters  (Tennyson).     Maynard, 
Merrill,  &  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  The  Macmil- 
lan Co.  ;  University  Publishing  Co. 
Used  in  seventh  and  eighth  grades  and  high  schools. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  345 

Merchant  of  Venice  (Shakespeare).     American  Book  Co. ;  Ginn 
&Co.;  The  Macmillan  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ;  Hough- 
ton, Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Maynard  &  Merrill ;  Educational  Pub- 
lishing Co. ;  University  Publishing  Co. 
The  best  of  Shakespeare's  for  this  grade.     Parts  of  it  are 
often  presented  in  the  schoolroom.     Much  liked  by  the 
children. 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather  (Scott).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  Educational  Pub- 
lishing Co. ;  University  Publishing  Co. 
Stories  of  Wallace,  Bruce,  Douglas,  and  other  Scotch  heroes. 
Should  be  read  only  in  parts  in  class.     Library  book. 
Poems  of  Emerson.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Historical    and   nature  poems,  with   a  good    introduction. 
A  smaller  but  important  collection   of  poems  for  older 
children. 
The    Cotter's    Saturday  night  (Burns).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  & 
Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  and  Co. 
Contains  also  Tam  O'Shanter  and  other  poems  of  Burns's  best. 
Bunker  Hill,  Adams,  and  Jefferson  (Webster).     Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
Historical,  patriotic,  and  simple  in  style.     The  best  of  Web- 
ster's speeches  for  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 
Poor  Richard's  Almanac  (Franklin).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
This  contains  also  interesting  papers  and  letters  by  Franklin. 
The  proverbs  of  Franklin  are  well  deserving  the  study  of 
children. 
Scudder's  Life  of  Washington.     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Best  life  of  Washington  for  grammar  grades. 
Source  Book  of  American  History  (Hart).     The  Macmillan  Co. 
Excellent  reading  selections  for  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
grades. 
Grandmother's  Story  and  Other  Poems  (Holmes).     Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Some  of  Holmes's  best  patriotic  and  humorous  poems. 
The  Plant  World  (Vincent).     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

A  superior  collection  of  extracts  from  great  scientific  writers. 
One  of  the  best  science  readers  for  upper  grades. 


34^  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN   READING 

Poetry  of  the  Seasons  (Lovejoy).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

Good  collection  for  reading  and  various  uses. 
William  Tell  (McMurry).     Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. 

Suitable  for  seventh-grade  reading.     A  drama. 
Golden  Treasury  of  Best  Songs  and  Lyrical  Poems  (Palgrave). 
The  Macmillan  Co. 


2.  SUPPLEMENTARY  AND  REFERENCE  BOOKS 

Rules  of  Conduct  (Washington).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Containing  also  his  letters,  farewell  address,  and  other  im- 
portant papers. 
Tales   from   Shakespeare  (Lamb).     American   Book  Co.;   The 
Macmillan  Co. 
May  be  used  throughout  the  upper  grades. 
Natural  History  of  Selborne  (White) .     Ginn  &  Co. 

A  famous  old  book,  interesting  both  in  style  and  content. 
One  of  the  first  books  of  real  nature  study. 
Letters  (Chesterfield).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 
Entertaining  and  unique.     Valuable  for  reading  extracts  to 
the  school. 
Plutarch's  Lives.     Ginn  &  Co. ;    The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Educa- 
tional Publishing  Co. 
A  book  that  all  grammar  school  children  should  be  encour- 
aged to  read. 
The  Two  Great  Retreats  (Grote-Segur).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Retreat  of  the  ten  thousand  Greeks,  and  Napoleon's  retreat 
from  Russia. 
The  Alhambra  (Irving).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ; 
The  Macmillan  Co. 
Most  attractive  descriptions  and  legends  connected  with  the 
Alhambra. 
Peter  Schlemihl  (Chamisso).     Ginn  &  Co. 
Picciola  (Saintine).     Ginn  &  Co. 
Hatim  Tai  (from  the  Persian).     Ginn  &  Co. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  347 

Life  of  Nelson  (Southey).     Ginn  &  Co.;  American  Book  Co. ; 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
Camps  and  Firesides  of  the  Revolution  (Hart).     The  Macmil- 
lan Co. 
Interesting  source  material. 
The  Crofton  Boys  (Martineau).     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Orations  on  Washington  and  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  (Webster) . 
American  Book  Co. 
A   few  children   may   be   encouraged  to   read  these  great 
speeches,  among    the  best    in   our   history.     Somewhat 
difficult. 
Silas  Marner  (Eliot).    The  Macmillan  Co.;   Sibley  &  Ducker ; 
American  Book  Co. ;    Ginn  &  Co. ;    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ; 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
A  good  introduction  for  children  to  George  Eliot's  writings. 
Used  in  eighth  grade  and  high  school. 
Vicar  of  Wakefield  (Goldsmith).     Ginn&  Co. ;  American  Book 
Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  The 
Macmillan  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  Univ.  Pub.  Co. 
One  of  the  great  books,  permeated  with   Goldsmith's  fine 
style  and  humor. 
Two  Years  Before  the  Mast  (Dana).      Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  book  of  real  power  for  boys  and  girls. 
A  Bunch  of  Herbs  (Burroughs).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Good  nature  study  for  pupils  and  teachers.    Also  for  regular 
reading. 
Samuel  Adams  (Morse).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

One  of  the  best  of  American  biographies.      One  of  the  best 
descriptions  of  scenes  in  Boston  just  preceding  the  Revo- 
lution. 
Tom  Brown's  School  Days  (Hughes).     The  Macmillan   Co. ; 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ;  Educational  Pub- 
lishing Co. 
A  story  for  boys.     Vigorous  and  true  to  life. 
Last  of  the  Mohicans  (Cooper).     The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Maynard, 
Merrill,  &  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin, 
&  Co. ;  University  Publishing  Co. 


34-8  SPECIAL   METHOD   IN   READING 

A  good  book  with   which  to  introduce  young  people  to 
Cooper's  famous  stories. 
Franklin's  Autobiography.      Ginn  &  Co. ;    Houghton,    Mifflin, 
&  Co. ;    Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. ; 
The  Macmillan  Co. ;  The  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
A  book  that  all  young  people  should  read.      Valuable   in 
many  ways. 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  (Stowe) .     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  library  book  for  home  reading. 
From  Colony  to  Commonwealth  (Moore).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Simple  account  of  the  early  events  of  the  Revolution  about 
Boston. 
Stories  from  the  Classic  Literature  of  Many  Nations  (Palmer). 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
The    Gold    Bug  and  Other    Tales   (Poe).      Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 


EIGHTH    GRADE 
I.  BOOKS   FOR  REGULAR  READING  LESSONS 

Vision  of  Sir  Launfal  (Lowell).      Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  The 
Macmillan  Co. 
One  of  the  best  poems  in  English  for  school  use. 

Julius  Caesar  (Shakespeare).  American  Book  Co. ;  The  Mac- 
millan Co. ;  Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ; 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  The 
Educational  Publishing  Co. ;  University  Publishing  Co. 
Well  suited  for  eighth  grade  study  and  presentation.  Used 
also  in  high  schools. 

Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn  (Longfellow).  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

Bunker  Hill,  Adams,  and  Jefferson  (Webster) .  Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. 

Roger  de  Coverley  (Addison).  The  Macmillan  Co. ;  American 
Book  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  The  Educational 
Publishing  Co. ;  Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co. ;  Sibley  &  Ducker; 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 


LIST   OF   BOOKS  349 

An  excellent  study  for  children  in  eighth  grade.     Also  used 
in  high  schools. 
In  Bird  Land  (Keyser).     A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

A  book  adapted  to  awaken  the  children  to  a  sympathetic 
observation  of  birds. 
Lady  of  the  Lake  (Scott).     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. ;  American 
Book  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  The 
Macmillan  Co. ;  D.  C.   Heath  &  Co. ;  The  Educational 
Publishing  Co. ;  University  Publishing  Co. 
An  attractive  study.     Somewhat  difficult. 
Marmion    (Scott).     Ginn  &   Co. ;    Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co.  ; 
The  Macmillan  Co. ;     The  Educational  Publishing  Co. ; 
Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. 
A  great  historical  picture,  full  of  interest. 
The     Great    Debate     (Hayne-Webster).       Houghton,    Mifflin, 
&  Co. ;  Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 
A  fine  study  of  forensic  debate.     Incidentally  a  deeper  ap- 
preciation of  history.     Somewhat  difficult  for  eighth  grade. 
A  Bunch  of  Herbs  (Burroughs).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  very  suggestive  study  of  common  plants,  trees,  weather,  etc. 
Burke  on  Conciliation.     Sibley  &  Ducker  ;  Ginn  &  Co.  ;  The 
Macmillan  Co.  ;  Silver,  Burdett,  &  Co.  ;  Houghton,  Mif- 
flin, &  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. ; 
Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co.     Used  also  in  high  school. 
A  great  study  both  as  literature  and  as  history.     One  of  the 
best  studies  in  American  history  before  the  Revolution. 
The  Gettysburg  Speech  (Lincoln).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
The  inaugurals,  an  essay  by  Lowell  on  Lincoln  and  other 
papers. 
The   Deserted  Village,  and  The  Traveller  (Goldsmith).     The 
Macmillan    Co. ;   Houghton,  Mifflin,  &    Co. ;    Maynard, 
Merrill,  &  Co. 
The  best  of  Goldsmith's  poems.     Also  shorter  poems. 
Franklin's  Autobiography.     The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ; 
Houghton,   Mifflin,   &   Co. ;    Maynard,   Merrill,   &   Co. ; 
American  Book  Co. ;  The  Educational  Publishing  Co. 
Partly  for  class  use  and  partly  for  reference  reading. 


350  SPECIAL    METHOD    IN    READING 

Plutarch's  Lives.     Ginn  &   Co. ;     The  Educational  Publishing 
Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
A  few  for  class  reading.     Others  for  reference. 
Translation  of  Homer's  Odyssey  (Palmer) .     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Abraham  Lincoln  (Schurz).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
Two  Great  Retreats  (Grote-Segur).     Ginn  &  Co. 

Good  sight  reading,  and  for  reference. 
Peter  the  Great  (Motley).     Maynard,  Merrill,  &  Co. 

A  very  interesting  essay  in  superior  style. 
The  Succession   of  Forest  Trees,   Wild   Apples,   and  Sounds 
(Thoreau).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 
A  very  attractive  nature  study. 

2.  SUPPLEMENTARY  AND  REFERENCE  BOOKS 

Ruskin's  Selections.     Ginn  &  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Longer  selections  from  Ruskin.     Excellent  also  for  regular 
reading. 
My  Hunt  after  the  Captain,  etc.  (Holmes).     Houghton,  Mifflin, 
&Co. 
A  very  entertaining  description  of  scenes  during  war  times. 
Don  Quixote  (Cervantes).     Ginn  &  Co. ;     The  Macmillan  Co. ; 
Scribner's  Sons. 
A  book  that  children  should  be  encouraged  to  read.     Its 
satire  and  humor  they  should  learn  to  appreciate. 
Ivanhoe  (Scott).     The  Macmillan  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. ;  American 
Book  Co. ;  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
The  best  introduction  to  Scott's  novels,  in  connection  with 
school  studies. 
The  Abbot  (Scott).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  American  Book  Co. 

One  of  Scott's  best  stories. 
Yesterdays  with  Authors  (James  T.  Fields).     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Rob  Roy,  and  Quentin  Durward  (Scott).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  Ameri- 
can Book  Co. 
Good  library  books. 


LIST    OF   BOOKS  35 1 

The  House  of  Seven  Gables  (Hawthorne).     Houghton,  Mifflin, 
&Co. 
A  New  England  story  in  Hawthorne's  style.    A  good  home 
study  for  children  and  teachers. 
The  Boy's  Browning.     Dana,  Estes,  &  Co. 

A  good  collection  of  the  simpler  poems  adapted  to  younger 
readers. 
Tale    of     Two    Cities    (Dickens).      Ginn    &  Co.;    American 

Book  Co. ;  The  Macmillan  Co. 
Jean  Valjean  (from  Les  Mise'rables) .     Ginn  &  Co. ;  Educational 

Publishing  Co. 
The  Talisman  (Scott).     American  Book  Co. ;  Ginn  &  Co. 
Treasure  Island  (Stevenson).     Scribner's  Sons. 
Life   of  Washington  (Statesmen    Series).     Houghton,  Mifflin, 

&Co. 
Life  of  Nelson  (Southey).    The  Macmillan  Co.;  Ginn  &  Co.; 

American  Book  Co. 
The  Foot-path  Way  (Torrey).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

One  of  the  best  books  for  cultivating  an  appreciation  for 
nature. 
In  Bird  Land  (Keyser).     A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

A  very  interesting  bird  study. 
The  Old  Manse,  and  A  Few  Mosses  (Hawthorne).     Houghton, 
Mifflin,  &  Co. 
A  pleasing  account  of  the  old  house  and  its  associations. 
News  from  the  Birds  (Keyser).     D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Excellent  study  and  observation. 
Peasant  and  Prince  (Martineau).     Ginn  &  Co. ;  Univ.  Pub.  Co. 
An  interesting  narrative  of  French  life  just  before  the  Revo- 
lution. 
A  Book  of  Famous  Verse  (Repplier).     Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co. 

A  superior  collection  of  poems. 
Nature  Pictures  by  American  Poets  (Marble).  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Choice  poems  descriptive  of  nature. 
Seven  British  Classics.     American  Book  Co. 

A  good  collection  of  English  masterpieces.     Adapted  also 
for  regular  reading  in  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS 

Published  by  The  Macmittan  Company 


BAGLEY,  William  Chandler.  Classroom  Management :  Its  Principles 
and  Technique.  By  William  Chandler  Bagley,  Superintendent  of  the 
Training  Department,  State  Normal  School,  Oswego,  N.Y. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    xvii -\- 332  pages.    $1.25  net. 

The  Educative  Process.         Cloth.    i2tno.    xix -\- 338  pages .    $1.25  net. 

BUTLER,  Nicholas  Murray.  The  Meaning  of  Education,  and  Other 
Essays  and  Addresses.  By  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  President  of  Colum- 
bia University.  Cloth.    i2mo.    xii-\-  230  pages.     $1.00  net. 

CHUBB,  Percival.  The  Teaching  of  English.  By  Percival  Chubb,  Princi- 
pal of  High  School  Department,  Ethical  Culture  School,  New  York. 

Cloth.    i2tno.    xvii-\-  411  pages.    $1.00  net. 

COLLAR,  George,  and  CROOK,  Charles  W.  School  Management  and 
Methods  of  Instruction.  By  George  Collar  and  Charles  W.  Crook, 
London.  Cloth.    i2mo.    viii-\- 336  pages.    $1.00  net. 

CRONSON,  Bernard.  Methods  in  Elementary  School  Studies.  By 
Bernard  Cronson,  A.B.,  Ph.D.,  Principal  of  Public  School  No.  3,  Borough 
of  Manhattan,  City  of  New  York.         Cloth.    i2tno.    167  pages.    $1.23  net. 

Pupil  Self -Government.  Cloth.    i2mo.    ix  +  ioy  pages.    $.gonet. 

CUBBERLEY.  Syllabus  of  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Education.  With 
Selected  Bibliographies  and  Suggested  Readings.  By  Ellwood  P.  Cub- 
berley,  Associate  Professor  of  Education,  Leland  Stanford  Junior  Univer- 
sity.   Second  Edition,  revised  and  enlarged.     In  two  parts. 

Part  /,  v  +  I2g  pages,  $  1.50  net ;  Part  II,  xv+ 361  pages,  $  1.30  net. 

Complete  in  one  volume,  $  2.00  net. 

DE  GARMO,  Charles.  Interest  and  Education.  By  Charles  De  Garmo, 
Professor  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education  in  Cornell  University. 

Cloth.     i2mo.    xvii +  230  pages.     $1.00  net. 

The  Principles  of  Secondary  Education. 

Vol.  I,  Studies.     Cloth.    i2mo.    xii-\-  299  pages.     $1.23  net. 

Vol.  II,  Processes  of  Instruction,    xii  +  200 pages.     $  1.00  net. 

Vol.  Ill,  Processes  of  Instruction.    In  press. 

DEXTER,  Edwin  Grant.    A  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States. 

By  Edwin  Grant  Dexter,  Professor  of  Education  in  the  University  of  Illinois.. 

Cloth,    xxi  +  663  pages.    8vo.    $  2.00  net. 

DUTTON,  Samuel  T.  Social  Phases  of  Education  in  the  School  and  the 
Home.  By  Samuel  T.  Dutton,  Superintendent  of  the  Horace  Mann 
Schools,  New  York.  Cloth.    i2mo.    ix  +  239  pages.     $1.23  net 

DUTTON  &  SNEDDEN.    The  Administration  of  Public  Education  in  the 

United  States.     By  Samuel  Train  Dutton,  A.M.,  and  David  Snedden, 

Ph.D.    With  an  Introduction  by  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Cloth,     viii -\- 393  pages .     Bibliography.     Index.     i2mo.     $1.73  net. 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS  —  Continued 


FITCH,  Sir  Joshua.  Educational  Aims  and  Methods.  Lectures  and  Ad- 
dresses by  Sir  Joshua  Fitch,  late  Her  Majesty's  Inspector  of  Training 
Colleges.  Cloth.    xii-\- 448  pages.    i2mo.    $1.25  net. 

Lectures  on  Teaching.  Cloth,    xiii+393 pages.    i6mo.    $1.00  net. 

GILMAN,  Mary  L.  Seat  Work  and  Industrial  Occupations.  A  Practical 
Course  for  Primary  Grades.  By  Mary  L.  Gilman,  Principal  of  the  Clay 
School,  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  and  Elizabeth  L.  Williams,  Principal  of  the 
Holmes  School,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Fully  illustrated.     Cloth.    141  pages.    Square  i2tno.     $.50  net. 

GANONG,  William  F.  The  Teaching  Botanist.  A  Manual  of  Informa- 
tion upon  Botanical  Instruction,  together  with  Outlines  and  Directions  for 
a  Comprehensive  Elementary  Course.  By  William  F.  Ganong,  Ph.D., 
Professor  of  Botany  in  Smith  College. 

Cloth.    i2tno.    xi  -f-  270  pages.    $1.10  net. 

HALLECK,  Reuben  Post.  The  Education  of  the  Central  Nervous  System. 
A  Study  of  Foundations,  especially  of  Sensory  and  Motor  Training.  By 
Reuben  Post  Halleck,  M.A.  (Yale) . 

Cloth.    i2tno.    xii  +  258 pages.    $1.00  net. 

HANUS,  Paul  H.  A  Modern  School.  By  Paul  H.  Hanus,  Professor  of  the 
History  and  Art  of  Teaching  in  Harvard  University. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    x  -{-306 pages.     $1.25  net. 

Educational  Aims  and  Educational  Values.    By  Paul  H.  Hanus. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    vii  +  221  pages.    $1.00  net. 

HERBART,  John  Frederick.  Outlines  of  Educational  Doctrine.  By  John 
Frederick  Herbart.  Translated  by  Alex.  F.  Lange,  Associate  Professor  of 
English  and  Scandinavian  Philology  and  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  the  College 
of  Letters,  University  of  California.  Annotated  by  Charles  De  Garmo, 
Professor  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education,  Cornell  University. 

Cloth.     Large  i2mo.    xi-\- 334  pages.    $1.25  net. 

HERRICK,  Cheesman  A.  The  Meaning  and  Practice  of  Commercial  Edu- 
cation. By  Cheesman  A.  Herrick,  Ph.D.,  Director  of  School  of  Com- 
merce, Philadelphia  Central  High  School. 

Cloth,    xv  +  378 pages .    i2tno.    $1.25  net. 

HORNE,  Herman  Harrell.  The  Philosophy  of  Education.  By  Herman 
Harrell  Home,  Assistant  Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Pedagogy  in  Dart- 
mouth College.  Cloth.    8vo.    xvii-\-  295  pages.    $1.50  net. 

The  Psychological  Principles  of  Education.   By  Herman  Harrell  Home. 

Cloth.    i2tno.    xiii-\- 435  pages.    $1.75  net. 

HUEY,  Edmund  B.  The  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  of  Reading.  By  Pro- 
fessor Edmund  B.  Huey,  of  the  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Cloth.     i2mo.    xvi+  469  pages.     $1.40  net. 

KILPATRICK,  Van  Evrie.  Departmental  Teaching  in  Elementary 
Schools.     By  Van  Evrie  Kilpatrick. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    xiii-\- 130  pages.    i6mo.    $.60  net. 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS—  Continued 


KIRKPATRICK,  Edwin  A.    Fundamentals  of  Child  Study.     By  Professor 

Edwin  A.  Kirkpatrick,  Principal  of  State  Normal  School,  Fitchburg,  Mass. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    xxi-\- 384  pages.    $1.25  net. 

MAJOR,  David  R.  First  Steps  in  Mental  Growth.  A  Series  of  Studies  in 
the  Psychology  of  Infancy.  By  David  R.  Major,  Professor  of  Education 
in  the  Ohio  State  University. 

Cloth,    xiv  -f- 360 pages,    i2mo.    $1.25  net. 

THE  McMURRY  SERIES  Each,  dothf  t2mo. 

General  Method. 

The  Elements  of  General  Method.     By  Charles  A.  McMurry. 

323  pages.    $.90  net. 

The  Method  of  the  Recitation.     By  Charles  A.  McMurry  and  Frank  M. 

McMurry,  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching,  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University.  xi-\- 329  pages.     $.90  net. 

Special  Method.     By  Charles  A.  McMurry. 

Special  Method  in  Primary  Reading  and  Oral  Work  with  Stories. 

vii  + 103  pages.  $  .60  net. 

Special  Method  in  the  Reading  of  English  Classics. 

vi  +  254  pages.  $ .75  net. 

Special  Method  in  Language  in  the  Eight  Grades. 

viii  +  192  pages.  $.70  net. 

Course  of  Study  in  the  Eight  Grades. 

Vol.1.       Grades  I  to  IV.     vii  +  236  pages.  $.75  net. 

Vol.11.     Grades  Vto  VIII.    v-\-  226  pages.  $.75  net. 

Special  Method  in  History.  vii  +  291  pages.  $.75  net. 

— -  Special  Method  in  Arithmetic.  vii  -f  225 pages.  $.70  net. 

Special  Method  in  Geography.  xi  + 217  pages.  $.70  net. 

Special  Method  in  Elementary  Science.  ix  +  275 pages.  $.75  net. 

Nature  Study  Lessons  for  Primary  Grades.     By  Mrs.  Lida  B.  McMurry, 

with  an  Introduction  by  Charles  A.  McMurry.     xi  +  pipages.    $.60  net. 


MONROE,  Paul.  A  Brief  Course  in  the  History  of  Education.  By  Paul 
Monroe,  Ph.D.,  Professor  in  the  History  of  Education,  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University.  Cloth.    8vo.     xviii  +  409 pages :     $i.2j  net. 

A  Text-book  in  the  History  of  Education. 

Cloth,    xxiii  +  277  pages.     i2mo.    $1.90  net. 

A  Source  Book  of  the  History  of  Education.    For  the  Greek  and  Roman 

Period.  Cloth.    xiii-\-  515  pages.    8vo.     $2.25  net. 

O'SHEA,  M.  V.  Dynamic  Factors  in  Education.  By  M.  V.  O'Shea,  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    xiii-\- 320  pages.    $1.25  net. 

Linguistic  Development  and  Education. 

Cloth.     i2mo.    xvii  +  347 pages.    $1.25  net. 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS—  Continued 


PARK,  Joseph  C.  Educational  Woodworking  for  Home  and  School.  By 
Joseph  C.  Park,  State  Normal  and  Training  School,  Oswego,  N.Y. 

Cloth.    j2tno.    xiii-\-  316  pages,  illus.    $1.00  net. 

PERRY,  Arthur  C.  The  Management  of  a  City  School.  By  Arthur  C. 
Perry,  Jr.,  Ph.D.,  Principal  of  Public  School  No.  85,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    viii+ 350  pages.    $1.23  net. 

ROWE,  Stuart  H.  The  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child.  By  Dr.  Stuart  H. 
Rowe,  Professor  of  Psychology  and  the  History  of  Education,  Training 
School  for  Teachers,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Cloth.    i2tno.    vi  -f-  211  pages.    $.90  net. 

ROYCE,  Josiah.  Outlines  of  Psychology.  An  Elementary  Treatise  with 
some  Practical  Applications.  By  Josiah  Royce,  Professor  of  the  History 
of  Philosophy  in  Harvard  University. 

Cloth.    i2tno.    xxvii-\- 392  pages.    $1.00  net. 

SHAW,  Edward  R.    School  Hygiene.    By  the  late  Edward  R.  Shaw. 

Cloth.    vii-\-  255  pages.    i2mo.    $1.00  net. 

SMITH,  David  E.  The  Teaching  of  Elementary  Mathematics.  By  David 
E.  Smith,  Professor  of  Mathematics,  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. Cloth,    xv +312  pages.    i2mo.    $1.00  net. 

SNEDDEN  and  ALLEN .  School  Reports  and  School  Efficiency .  By  David 
S.  Snedden,  Ph.D.,  and  William  H.  Allen,  Ph.D.  For  the  New  York 
Committee  on  Physical  Welfare  of  School  Children. 

Cloth.    i2mo.    xi -\- 183 pages.    $1.50  net. 

VANDEWALKER,  Nina  C.  The  Kindergarten  in  American  Education. 
By  Nina  C.  Vandewalker,  Director  of  Kindergarten  Training  Department, 
Milwaukee  State  Normal  School. 

Cloth.     xiii-\-  274  pages.    Portr.,  index,  i2mo.    $1.23  net. 

WARNER,  Francis.  The  Study  of  Children  and  Their  School  Training. 
By  Francis  Warner.  Cloth,    xix  +  264 pages.    i2mo.    $1.00  net. 

WINTERBURN  AND  BARR.    Methods  in  Teaching.     Being  the  Stockton 
Methods  in  Elementary  Schools.     By  Mrs.  Rosa  V.  Winterburn,  of  Los 
Angeles,  and  James  A.  Barr,  Superintendent  of  Schools  at  Stockton,  Cal. 
Cloth.    xii+  355 pages.    i2tno.    $1.25  net. 


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